Getting into SQL.
We are living in a very dynamic world in which everything could change in just one day. But there is one thing that won’t disappear in the future, and that is data. Since the beginning of the internet, everything became more data-oriented than it used to be. Companies opened new positions and data is now more valuable.
What is SQL and what are the advantages?
SQL is a computer language made for managing data in a digital database based on a relational model of data (RDSMS). Structured Query Language first appeared nearly 50 years ago and since then it underwent some changes in order to be as useful as it could be for the programmers. Some of the advantages of SQL are :
- Easier to learn compared to other programming languages
- No coding skills are required, in order to retrieve data
- Quick and efficient
- Multiple data views
- Used by many
Why should you get into SQL today?
Every professional programmer should know that knowing a programming language requires some years of learning and working. Starting today, you will have more time to get to know the language before starting a project. Like every programing language, you should have some education, in order to prove to the company that you are the perfect person for the job. Some of the things that you need to go through are :
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science or IT
- Some kind of course or certificate
- Experience in the position would be a big plus
Being an SQL professional would lead to having a higher income. It still depends on your previous work, but working with SQL for more than 5 years will mean that you could have an income of $100k or more in the US. SQL has a bright future ahead of it since more and more people are willing to learn it, not only because of the income but because there are always open job positions for SQL talents in many companies worldwide.
How to start?
Starting something new is always the hardest part. If you would like to know SQL better, you will need to download it first. You can download it from Microsoft.com in order to be sure that you will have the latest version. You need to know that there are two versions of SQL – Express edition and Developer edition. Both of them have some limits but it is a good start of your journey. Some of the most important commands you have to know when getting into SQL are :
- Select – this extracts data from a database
- Delete – this deletes data from a database
- Update – this updates data in a database
- Create database – this creates a new database
- Create table – this creates a new table
Another thing that may be a benefit for you is SQL’s IDEs. IDE is an Integrated Development Environment which will help you get a better view of the databases and queries. Some of these IDEs have a help button made to explain the most important commands and how to use them. The top used IDEs are :
- Tora
- DBeaver
- HeidiSQL
- PHPMyAdmin
- OmniDB – It is written in Python and it is a little bit different but it is still one of the most used ones
If you are new to programming and would like to have programming in your future, SQL is one of the best languages that you can start with. The easy concept it is based on makes it one of the most preferable among the new programmers.
