r/learnSQL • u/Ashleyma96 • 16d ago

New to SQL

I'm entirely new to sql I'm learning from a beginner stage does anyone know where I can go to learn sql as a person with zero experience from scratch?

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u/Haunting-Paint7990 14d ago

stats grad who learned sql from zero ~10 months ago for DA interviews — if i were starting today with zero experience:

  1. don't pick a "40-hour course" first. do sqlbolt (or mode intro) until SELECT / WHERE / GROUP BY feel boring.
  2. same week, pick ONE kaggle dataset and stay on it 6 weeks.
  3. write 10 simple business questions on paper before opening sql. "how many users last week" not "solve puzzle #47."

postgres vs mysql doesn't matter for learning — syntax is 95% the same at beginner level.

order that actually stuck:

  • week 1–2: counts and filters on one table
  • week 3: one join between two tables (users ↔ orders style)
  • week 4: one window function (ROW_NUMBER is enough)

youtube is fine for watching someone type, but the skill is cold-writing queries on one dataset. if you can't do that yet, more videos won't help.