best way to learn sql free reddit

Hello! I am looking to learn sql as I feel it will be valuable for me to learn. I was unsure where to start though, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to a great free site/course for me to start at? Thanks!

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To practice SQL, you can use www.sqlclimber.com . It is free, but there is no theory, only practice.

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I did the SQL Tutorial - Full Database Course for Beginners from FreeCodeCamp like 4 years ago. That a shit ton of google and playing with a bunch of databases helped me.

reddit.com › r/sql › what’s the best free beginner course for learning sql?

r/SQL on Reddit: What’s the best free beginner course for learning SQL?

April 26, 2023 -

Specifically using it to query company data in different Salesforce CRMs from altered software.

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https://sqlbolt.com is great to get acquainted with the basic syntax. Don't make it a challenge though. If you get stuck just check the answer, fill in the answer (muscle memory) and come back later to see if you can remember it. The reason you should be rushing through this fast without any concern whether you understand it or not is because you'll learn SQL faster if you learn it top-down. Which means exploring the problem first, establishing how it needs to be broken down, and then finally at the end enter the syntax. And that's when job interview problems (start anywhere on Youtube) are awesome, they're all derived from real world databases. They all will walk you through this process the right way. People who start trying to get a perfect syntax first will be treading water for a long time before they get to chew on what makes SQL so satisfying to work it. That's what I did and I wish someone had told me this. Instead I had SQL for Dummies starting me out on database sanitation...

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Just be careful with YouTube. There are a lot of channels that teach enough so you learn something but leave out crucial info to drive traffic elsewhere using "helpful" links in the description.

reddit.com › r/learnsql › can i learn sql for free?

r/learnSQL on Reddit: Can I learn SQL for free?

October 16, 2025 -

I really want to get into SQL, but every website I try I have to pay after I get through the first few steps. I see a lot of people recommend YouTube, but I learn better from actually doing it myself. Does anyone know of any websites that offers SQL courses for free. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

DataLemur, LeetCode SQL, r/SQL , and SQLBolt. All pretty good resources.

reddit.com › r/sql › unemployed. need free resources to learn sql

r/SQL on Reddit: Unemployed. Need free resources to learn SQL

June 19, 2024 -

Hi all. I'm recently unemployed and mostly savvy with Excel. What are some free resources that offer some structured learning. Is there anything like Khan Academy for SQL that is free? Really wanting to enroll in a degree program eventually, but what are good resources to start with for the time being?

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r/learnSQL https://cs50.harvard.edu/sql/2024/ a structured way of learning SQL and it's free. Only the certificate costs money. If you want to challenge yourself also free is https://www.edx.org/bio/jennifer-widom Do all the courses starting with This one , it is not easy but rewarding. Also before starting either CS50 or Widom consider https://selectstarsql.com/ and https://sqlbolt.com/ first. And if either CS50 or Widom's courses still seem very challenging I want you to go through this https://www.pg4e.com/ . It will teach a lot of practical hands on use of databases vs just exercises. All of this helps with repetition. Trust me I know, I'm unemployed right now too and I did a few courses (that repeated material) and then interview problems which boosted my mastery with SQL. Once you've done either CS50 or Widom I want you to go through https://datalemur.com/blog/sql-interview-guide and https://datalemur.com/sql-tutorial . Again this is all about repetition and saying the same material presented in different ways. Once you finish with the Data Lemur advanced section https://www.windowfunctions.com/ go through that site and everything you have to look up, look up on Youtube some short video on each section. https://downloads.yugabyte.com/marketing-assets/O-Reilly-SQL-Cookbook-2nd-Edition-Final.pdf grab a copy of that (yes this is legal, it's provided by a company) And go through it. https://pgexercises.com/ eventually get to a point where you can do all the exercises here with minimally looking things up. Once you can do everything on PGExcercises get on DataLemur and do the SQL practice interview problems. All of this should have cost you a grand total of $0.

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Here are some websites : SQLZoo - https://sqlzoo.net/wiki/SQL_Tutorial SQLBolt - https://sqlbolt.com/ MySQLTutorial - https://www.mysqltutorial.org/ SQLServerTutorial - https://www.sqlservertutorial.net/ SQLiteTutorial - https://www.sqlitetutorial.net/ SQLPractice - https://www.sql-practice.com/ LearnSQLOnline - https://www.learnsqlonline.org/

reddit.com › r/sql › best free site to practice sql while learning for a total beginner

r/SQL on Reddit: best free site to practice SQL while learning for a total beginner

January 10, 2024 -

hi friends, i have decided to shift careers to data analysis, so i need to master SQL.

i have ZERO IT background, and i need to apply whatever i learn early on.

so, i need a free and efficient site, easy to use, to practice SQL while learning it.\

what are your suggestions?

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https://www.w3schools.com/sql/ is a good place to start.

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Datalemur's SQL tutorial and w3schools SQL tutorial. They both explain the concepts and give you the opportunity to practice the concept with practice problems. I didn't have any experience in SQL, but during winter break I used both of these resources to learn and they teach the syntax and concepts very well and quickly. I can already do basic-intermediate queries.

reddit.com › r/learnsql › best free sql course + best way to learn sql?

r/learnSQL on Reddit: Best FREE SQL course + best way to learn SQL?

April 13, 2026 -

Hi everyone,

I'm a complete beginner and I want to learn SQL for data analysis.

Can you recommend the best FREE SQL courses?

Also, what is the best way to learn SQL effectively?

Should I focus more on courses or practice?

Thanks in advance!

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There's a 30 hour course on YouTube. Search for Baraa 30 hour SQL. Edit: Here is the course https://youtu.be/SSKVgrwhzus?is=EwENYAVRkA9GqCrx Starts from the basics and goes more in-depth.

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You learn by doing, not by being stuck in tutorial hell which loops forever. Get yourself something like PostgreSQL, and Dbeaver, and learn SQL in there. Then use something that relates to you, ie. golf stats and make a database and table to track certain things to learn with. Any cheat cheat will work, or a full SQL video on YouTube.

reddit.com › r/sql › best resources to learn sql and what should i focus on to get a job?

r/SQL on Reddit: Best resources to learn SQL and what should I focus on to get a job?

September 28, 2023 -

I'm currently learning SQL in my spare time, polishing up on my Excel skills and after SQL, I want to learn PowerBI. I have NO EXPERIENCE in SQL.

Which books, mock test, website, youtube channel would you recommend? I want to learn from basic to expert level no matter how much time it takes?

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You could start with the SQL section of w3schools.com. It's a big picture overview of SQL and it has some pages focused on how to accomplish things specific to different database programs. Get comfortable with that first. The rarely spoken truth is that SQL isn't very hard to pick up. Your value will largely depend on your ability to translate business logic into SQL. Practice. Pick an industry/type of business. It might be best to start with one you're very familiar with on your first run through. Set up your database environment. Securely store all the information required in your set up. Ex: authentication type, administrator account user/pass, database name, etc Gather information on what the business would need to store in a database. Ex: an animal shelter would need a pet table, a kennel/cage table, immunization/medical information table, license/tag table, a table to store people who surrender or adopt .. you get the picture. Make it as detailed as you can, if it's realistic, talk to someone in that line of work, but don't get caught up in making it perfect. 5-10 tables should be enough for the first time around. Design the tables in the database. Pay attention to data types as you go. You'll want to consider the data as it is today, and accommodate for growth. Ex: your table has a field, char(10) as the data type. The data stored is currently 10 characters long. Business needs change, and this field now needs to store 12 characters. Save yourself the headache and start with making it varchar(20) at creation. Also pay attention to keys and how you intend to join tables. I strongly advise putting primary keys on every table and setting them to auto-increment. This gives you a quick out when it comes to duplicate records. Generate data for your tables. Google "data generator" and find the one you like the best. I've used https://generatedata.com/ in the past, it's not terrible but I recall a lot of tweaking to get exactly what I needed. Research. Chances are there's something easier out there. If dropping money on it is not an issue, Regate has a SQL Data Generator for a yearly subscription price of $264. Probably easier to work with. Load your data into the database. Ideally, the data generator provided you with a SQL script that runs a bunch of inserts, one click and done. But it's possible you got a csv or Excel file. Most dbms's come with an import tool of some kind, this the perfect opportunity to learn how to use it. The rest is the fun part. Conjure up potential business scenarios your business might encounter. In the animal shelter example, a couple things might happen: animal adoption, animal surrender, kennel change, new license/tag, etc. Consider what would be most important if you needed to report on these situations, put some queries together, maybe create some views. When you're pretty comfortable with that, start looking into how you'd update data. An animal surrender wouldn't just be entering into the pet table, you'd also want to store the person who surrendered the animal and assign them a kennel. Also: retaining historical data for record changes is a valid business requirement. If it didn't come up in your original design, figuring out how to implement it is good practice. Sorry so long, but it should get you started and introduce you to some situations you're going to encounter later on. Lots of luck!

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W3 schools is a great resource and it is free so you can explore all you want before focusing on ay flavor of SQL.

reddit.com › r/learnsql › best place to learn sql for free?

Best place to learn SQL for free? : r/learnSQL

September 14, 2024 - https://sqlbolt.com/

Find elsewhere

Google Bing Mojeek

reddit.com › r/sql › any free courses? i want to learn more.

r/SQL on Reddit: Any free courses? I want to learn more.

January 30, 2021 -

I am an analyst and want to learn more about sql seems to be industry standard but I have never had to use it?

Are there free sources or courses I can follow? And do they offer programs for me to test while I progress?

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You can take your time and get this done in about a few days to a week easily. It’s very to the point, which I appreciated. https://sqlbolt.com Also, download https://sqlitestudio.pl and open it up. Create a database, create a table, and import a CSV file and play around with the data either as your doing the tutorial or right after. Next step: http://kevinluo.net/books/book_SQL%20Queries%20for%20Mere%20Mortals%20-%20John%20L.%20Viescas.pdf Edit: if the book link above does not work try this one (or type "SQL Queries for Mere Mortals" into PDF Drive ): https://www.pdfdrive.com/download.pdf?id=199786077&h=281e7d1eafff5652256f831775c5cc5c&u=cache&ext=pdf

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Literally used this textbook and Hackerrank (both free), within 2 months got a job where I had to complete a sql test ! I had no idea before how universal sql was. I also already knew Python and R, but never got tested on those.

reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › best free resources to learn sql?

r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Best free resources to learn SQL?

February 12, 2025 -

Hello world! I need to know SQL for my new job in support. They’re going to teach us, but I want to be ahead of the game. Any recs for free, modern, relevant resources for learning? I’m even down to pay, but free would obv be best. Thank you all so much for your time in helping a sister out!

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go work for the US government, I hear they're all about SQL

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Sqlbolt - it’s straightforward, fairly short but should be enough to get your feet wet and best of all I believe it’s free.

reddit.com › r/sql › best ways to learn sql for free

r/SQL on Reddit: Best Ways to Learn SQL for Free

May 27, 2019 -

Beyond going back to school, what are the best ways to learn SQL for free? Sites, books, etc. And I am a total novice and will need to start with the very basics.

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Animated tasks:
https://sqlbolt.com/

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set up a database on your own computer, and run queries against it

tourist in NYC: "excuse me officer, could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?"

officer: "Sure... practise, practise, practise"

reddit.com › r/sql › best way to learn sql

r/SQL on Reddit: Best way to learn SQL

March 13, 2023 -

Hi everyone

I would like to start learning SQL and I don't really know where to start. Can someone please describe me your journey on how you became proficient with the tool? I am working as a Product Manager, so some basic skills are definitely needed.

Thanks!

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I would start with doing SQL bolt. Then watch either a YouTube series on SQL or do a Udemy course, I personally like Alex the Analyst's series, I recommend just starting with his basic and intermediate series. Whatever database system your company uses watch a couple tutorials on it, if it's something like MySQL or Microsoft SQL server you can set up an instance on your own computer at home and practice using it. Then start doing SQL problems on hackerrank, do them in the database system that you'll be using. Once you're at the point of being able to do all the basic stuff on hackerrank and some of the intermediate I would say you have a good starting grasp on SQL.

reddit.com › r/itcareerquestions › what is the best way for a beginner to learn sql free?

r/ITCareerQuestions on Reddit: What is the best way for a beginner to learn SQL free?

December 5, 2023 -

I have some free time between college terms for my CIS degree and want to get acquainted with SQL. Anyone know of a good resource for accomplishing this?

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This is very beginner: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/dbfundamentals/ Understanding basic sql arguments: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/programming-databases-with-t-sql-for-beginners/ You can find some other gems searching their videos amidst advertisements posing as education: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/search/?terms=sql&category=Show

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Two resources I know of https://www.w3schools.com/sql/ https://www.guru99.com/sql.html

reddit.com › r/sql › free programs to learn sql

r/SQL on Reddit: Free Programs to learn SQL

August 3, 2023 -

Graduating college in December with a Finance degree. I’ve talked to multiple people in the field I want to work in and they all recommended learning SQL. I’ve never coded in my life but I promised my mentor that I will learn. Any recommendations on how to self teach myself for free? Any Youtube accounts, websites, etc that will help me? Thank you!

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W3schools.com Codecademy Sololearn Alextheanalyst Adam Finer This is more than enough to get you going. Learn the fundamentals, and you'll be fine. SQL is imo the easiest form of coding to learn. It's not really a programming language, but it'll give you a brand new perspective. Stay focused, and don't be afraid to fail. You'll get the hang of it before you know it. Good luck!

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I was in the same boat before I got a card services analyst job in june. since January I spent a lot of time every night learning sql, first on w3 schools, although a lot of the examples are hard to follow at first because knowing how statements were structured and what the tables meant took a while for me to grasp. Still really good information. After that I spent a lot of time on SQLbolt and SQLzoo practicing different queries. Once I got to that point I had a solid understanding of how SQL worked. that all helped me land the job. Now, I run queries at my job and it’s amazing

reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › a good site to learn sql.

r/learnprogramming on Reddit: A good site to learn SQL.

May 19, 2022 -

I (27m) want to switch my exhausting current job to programming.I heard that learning SQl can provide you a good chance to land a data analyst job. Also are there any other languages that i should cater to as well.

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u/PopGroundbreaking966 I highly recommend using https://sqlbolt.com/ Very easy to follow mini tasks that you complete on the site itself to give the basics of understanding tables, columns and rows and the most basic SQL statements. Do yourself a favour and spend 20 minutes on it today. Used it when I got into software engineering.

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Freecodecamp has free resources and different focuses you can choose from, that and YouTube can point you towards some lesser known ones too.

reddit.com › r/learnsql › best sql course for beginners?

r/learnSQL on Reddit: Best SQL course for beginners?

October 4, 2025 -

Hi Folks,

Who has the best free step by step course/tutorial for beginners on SQL?

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Go to youtube and search for 30 hour long course for beginners or find it directly at the guy's website datawithbaraa.com. It's very good.

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Not a course exactly but this is a good roadmap for learning SQL from scratch: https://www.reddit.com/r/mavenanalytics/s/0MlayLqadB

reddit.com › r/sql › best course site to learn sql?

r/SQL on Reddit: Best course site to learn SQL?

October 20, 2023 -

I am 23 years old with a bachelors in business management and have been working as a sales development representative for about 6 months, and I hate it. Lots of down time, lots of rude prospects, the pay is laughable for someone with a degree, and it’s just something I don’t want to move up with.

I’ve always been a numbers person, so I don’t love to pivot my career to a business/data analyst. My first hurdle is learning SQL. I have minimal coding experience, so I don’t want to rely on YouTube to teach me. I also want a certification, as being 23, my resume is relatively short. Right now, I’m looking at Codecademy. Has anyone ever had experience with this site/course? Any other sites/courses I should explore?

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udemy for the basics, then Pgexercises, then leetcode

reddit.com › r/dataanalysis › ways of learning sql as a complete beginner

r/dataanalysis on Reddit: Ways of learning SQL as a complete beginner

April 26, 2024 -

I’m currently employed but my company doesn’t use any form of database. I’m having to funnel monthly spreadsheets into 1 fact table on a Sharepoint for each department and then loading all of those into PowerBI. Not great but it’s been a good way of learning PowerQuery and automating the process where possible.

But because there’s no industry standard form of a database here it means I have 0 exposure to SQL, something I would really like to learn asap. Is there a way I can do this (as cheap as possible) where I can learn code, try it and see the results?

I’ve already talked to my company about implementing a proper database and they’ve said they don’t want to pay the costs so I can’t install software that would allow for using SQL.

I know MS Access can use SQL but it’s a very outdated program so I’m hesitant to use it (despite being able to). Could this be a valid method?

I’m seeing lots of courses but can’t figure out a way to test and apply what I’m learning.

Am I better off finding a new job with a company that have these resources or is there a method I’m missing? Apologies if this is a painfully easy question to answer I just find getting started with coding to be the hard part so any advice/direction would be much appreciated (:

Edit: thank you everyone for your comments, lots of resources I’ll definitely be taking a look at! Much appreciated!

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Microsoft SQL has a couple of free versions. You can install it and use the “Northwinds” database which Microsoft created as a fake company. It’ll run fine on your laptop or home pc. Or you can create your own database and build a whole relational system.

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I learned SQL in one weekend (well enough to query only, not build databases but that’s all I needed) by using this roadmap from Data Lemur: https://datalemur.com/blog/learn-sql-in-30-days-roadmap It says 30 days, and he also has a condensed 7 day version. I did all 7 days in 2 days and I haven’t needed to do a single additional lesson since. After my cramming, it’s been enough for me to learn by trial and error actually doing my job.

reddit.com › r/learnsql › what’s the best free resource to learn for a beginner. also does a certificate matter ?

r/learnSQL on Reddit: What’s the best Free resource to learn for a beginner. Also does a certificate matter ?

January 15, 2026 -

Not a data scientist, I am a risk professional who probably needs to know a little more than the basics. Do any certificates standout from the rest as being more legitimate?

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For beginners, freeCodeCamp and SQLBolt are solid and genuinely beginner-friendly. Mode SQL tutorials are also great once you know the basics, especially for analysis-style queries. For your use case, focus on SELECTs, JOINs, GROUP BY, window functions, that’ll cover most real work. Certificates don’t matter that much in practice. They can help with structure or confidence, but employers care way more about whether you can actually write and explain queries. If you do get one, treat it as learning, not a signal

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w3school For sql certifications are not something vert important