What SQL topics are covered in the SQL Database Programming course?

The course covers database and DBMS fundamentals, MySQL setup, tables, constraints, data manipulation, queries, functions, wildcards, unions, joins, nested queries, and foreign-key delete behavior.

How do primary keys and foreign keys work in a relational database?

A primary key uniquely identifies each row in a table. A foreign key references a related row in another table, helping enforce relationships and referential integrity.

What is the difference between DELETE, DROP TABLE, and ON DELETE CASCADE in SQL?

DELETE removes selected rows, DROP TABLE removes the entire table, and ON DELETE CASCADE automatically deletes related child rows when a referenced parent row is deleted.

Free Course Image SQL Database Programming

Free online course SQL Database Programming

Duration of the online course: 4 hours and 28 minutes

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Build job-ready SQL skills fast with a free online course: create tables, query data, master joins and design relational databases with practical exercises.

In this free course, learn about

Database Foundations
SQL Setup and Data Definition
Data Manipulation and Basic Queries
Company Database and Query Techniques
Advanced SQL Queries and Database Automation
Entity Relationship Modeling and Schema Design

About the free online course

Learning to work with data starts with knowing how databases are structured and how to ask the right questions of them. In this free online course on SQL database programming, you will develop the practical skills needed to create, manage, and query relational databases with confidence. You will move from understanding what databases and DBMS/RDBMS systems do in real organizations to writing SQL that turns raw records into useful, trustworthy information.

The course guides you through the core building blocks of relational design: tables, keys, and relationships. You will see why primary keys matter, when surrogate keys are used, and how foreign keys connect business entities across a schema. Along the way, you will practice writing commands that create and remove tables, insert data, update existing records, and safely delete rows based on conditions. This foundation helps you avoid common mistakes that lead to duplicated, inconsistent, or hard-to-maintain data.

As your SQL grows, you will learn to write clear, efficient queries to filter, sort, and limit results, and to return exactly what a report or application needs. You will also work with patterns using wildcards, combine results using UNION, and connect information from multiple tables with joins. These are the everyday tools behind analytics dashboards, internal tools, and application features that rely on accurate data retrieval.

Beyond querying, you will explore more advanced database behavior and design thinking. You will understand why nested queries are used, how constraints enforce data quality, what triggers can automate responses to changes, and what happens when foreign key rules like ON DELETE CASCADE are applied. The course also introduces ER diagrams and shows how to translate a design into a working schema, including handling one-to-one relationships and participation rules. By the end, you will be ready to build a small company-style database, reason about relationships, and write SQL that supports reliable, real-world use.

Course content

Video class: Introduction | SQL | Tutorial 1 02m
Exercise: What is a primary purpose of a relational database management system (RDBMS)?
Video class: What is a Database? | Let's Learn 20m
Exercise: What is a database management system (DBMS) and what is its primary purpose?
Video class: Tables 20m
Exercise: In a relational database, which type of key is used to uniquely identify a row within a table and has no direct mapping to real-world data?

Video class: SQL Basics | SQL | Tutorial 3 09m
Exercise: What is one of the primary roles of SQL in a relational database management system?
Video class: MySQL Windows Installation | SQL | Tutorial 4 09m
Exercise: What is the main purpose of a MySQL database server?
Video class: MySQL Mac Installation | SQL | Tutorial 5 14m
Exercise: What is MySQL primarily used for?
Video class: Creating Tables - SQL - Tutorial 6 15m
Exercise: In SQL, which command is used to remove a table from the database?

Video class: Inserting Data - SQL - Tutorial 7 07m
Exercise: What is the SQL command used to add a new row of data into an existing table called?
Video class: Constraints - SQL - Tutorial 8 10m
Exercise: In SQL, which of the following constraints ensures that a column must have a value and that the value must be unique across all rows in the table?
Video class: Update 08m
Exercise: What SQL statement would you use to remove specific rows from a database table based on a condition?
Video class: Basic Queries | SQL | Tutorial 10 12m
Exercise: What would be the result of executing the following SQL command: SELECT name FROM student WHERE major = 'Computer Science' ORDER BY name DESC LIMIT 3?

Video class: Company Database Intro | SQL | Tutorial 11 08m
Exercise: In a given company database schema, an employee table contains an 'employee ID', which is also a primary key. This table also contains two foreign keys: 'super ID' and 'branch ID'. What is the purpose of the 'super ID' foreign key in this schema?
Video class: Creating Company Database | SQL | Tutorial 12 13m
Exercise: Which of the following is true about creating a complex database schema with foreign key relationships?
Video class: More Basic Queries | SQL | Tutorial 13 06m
Exercise: Which SQL statement would retrieve the distinct department names from a table named 'department'?
Video class: Functions | SQL | Tutorial 14 09m
Exercise: Which SQL function would you use to calculate the total expenditure on payroll for all employees in a company?
Video class: WIldcards | SQL | Tutorial 15 08m
Exercise: What would be the appropriate SQL LIKE pattern to find all suppliers whose names contain the word 'Supplies'?

Video class: Union | SQL | Tutorial 16 08m
Exercise: In SQL, which operator can be used to combine the results of multiple SELECT statements into a single result set?
Video class: Joins | SQL | Tutorial 17 10m
Exercise: Which type of SQL join includes all rows from the left table and the matched rows from the right table, filling in with NULL where there is no match?
Video class: Nested Queries | SQL | Tutorial 18 10m
Exercise: What is the primary purpose of using nested queries in SQL?
Video class: On Delete | SQL | Tutorial 19 08m
Exercise: What is a potential consequence of using 'ON DELETE CASCADE' in a foreign key relationship?
Video class: Triggers | SQL | Tutorial 20 12m
Exercise: What is the purpose of using triggers in SQL?

Video class: ER Diagrams Intro | SQL | Tutorial 21 14m
Exercise: In the context of ER diagrams, what is a weak entity?
Video class: Designing an ER Diagram | SQL | Tutorial 22 12m
Exercise: What is an ER diagram primarily used for in the context of database design?
Video class: Converting ER Diagrams to Schemas | SQL | Tutorial 23 12m
Exercise: In the process of converting an ER diagram to a database schema, what is the recommended approach when dealing with a one-to-one binary relationship where one entity has total participation?