When someone comes to you wanting to learn T-SQL?

  • I'm not sure where to put this thread, so apologies if it's in the wrong place.
    I'm wondering what other people do when someone from the business comes to you saying they want to start learning T-SQL. What beginner/entry level guides/books/websites do you point them to?

  • Depends how far down the rabbit hole they want to go, generally for me it is in this order.

    The 70-461 training exam kit along with the MVA
    The three stairways
    Anything by Itzik Ben-Gan.

  • anthony.green - Thursday, November 9, 2017 12:58 AM

    Depends how far down the rabbit hole they want to go, generally for me it is in this order.

    The 70-461 training exam kit along with the MVA
    The three stairways
    Anything by Itzik Ben-Gan.

    +1 regarding Itzik Ben-Gan.  I have read a couple of his books and they are gold!

    Grant Fritchley has written a couple of books on optimising SQL Queries and that can be used in conjunction with other material so that when a person can write SQL they can learn how to do it properly.  He explains in terms that most can understand, even the beginner coder, how to analyse your code and alter it to the best effect.  Also gold worth...

  • I suppose it depends on their current knowledge base.  At a very beginning level I'd start with set theory:
    https://www.mathsisfun.com/sets/venn-diagrams.html
    If they don't understand sets properly, then anything SQL related will be gibberish to them.

    Once they understand sets, then they need to understand the grammar of SQL, and the different clauses of a SQL command, maybe something like:
    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb264565(v=sql.90).aspx

    Then you can get into the deeper aspects of the customizations of T-SQL compared to regular SQL with things others have posted.

  • Thanks for your thoughts guys, appreciate it.

  • I'd recommend SQL Success by Stephane Faroult (author of the classic, The Art of SQL).  I'm using it now as a bridge from T-SQL (which I've been using for 5 years) to Postgres because it demonstrates how to solve SQL problems in 6 different dialects:SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, SQLite, Postgres, MySQL.  Beginner to intermediate level.  Excellent book.

  • when someone from the business comes to you...

    Do you mean a co-worker asking for a professional opinion or a friend asking casually? What is this person's background? What is this person's aptitude, motivation and goal? How helpful do you want to be to this person?

    If this person if of the same age, I'd bring an extra chair and start teaching some basics and see how it goes.

    If this person has just started in the world, I would point to http://usql.io/

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