Free online courseSQL Server tutorial for beginners

Course Description

"SQL Server Tutorial for Beginners" is a comprehensive and well-structured training course designed specifically for those who are new to SQL Server. With a total duration of 26 hours and 59 minutes, this extensive course provides a solid foundation in SQL Server, covering a wide array of topics crucial for any aspiring database professional.

This course stands out in its category, Information Technology, and is further specialized under the subcategory of Database. It has earned an impressive average rating of 4.6 stars from numerous learners, reflecting its high quality and the effectiveness of the teaching methods employed.

One of the key strengths of this course is its logical progression and systematic coverage of essential SQL Server concepts. It kicks off by introducing you to SQL Server and how to connect using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). As you move through the lessons, you will master fundamental tasks such as creating, altering, and dropping databases, as well as working with tables and various types of constraints including default, check, and unique key constraints.

The course further explores advanced SQL Server features such as identity columns and various methods to retrieve last generated identity values. It delves into critical SQL commands and functionalities like SELECT statements, grouping by data, and different types of joins including advanced, intelligent, and self joins. You’ll also learn about functions to handle NULL values and the COALESCE function.

Additionally, the program provides a deep dive into unions, stored procedures, and output parameters, emphasizing the numerous advantages of using stored procedures. Built-in string functions, DateTime functions, and date-related functions are thoroughly discussed, alongside mathematical functions, user-defined functions, both scalar and table-valued, and the important concepts related to them.

As you advance through the course, you gain hands-on experience with temporary tables, indexes (clustered, non-clustered, unique, and non-unique), and their advantages and disadvantages. The course also covers views, including updatable and indexed views, as well as their limitations. Trigger mechanisms such as DML triggers, after update, instead of insert, and delete triggers are explained in detail.

The latter parts of the course focus on sophisticated topics like common table expressions (CTEs), database normalization including second and third normal forms, and pivot operations. Comprehensive lessons on error handling, transactions, subqueries, and correlated subqueries help you handle real-world database scenarios efficiently.

Moreover, the course includes practical sessions on creating large tables for performance testing and deciding between subqueries and joins, along with in-depth discussions on cursors and their replacements using joins. You’ll learn about dynamic SQL, query plan cache, and various dynamic SQL techniques and functions.

By the end of the course, you will have a robust understanding of SQL Server, from the basics to advanced techniques. You will be well-equipped to handle various database tasks and ready to implement your skills in real-world situations. This course is an excellent starting point for anyone looking to build a career in database management or enhance their proficiency in SQL Server.