Introduction to Structured Query Language (SQL)

This University of Michigan course, hosted by Coursera, teaches computer science students how to create MySQL databases. It is the second in a series of courses that teach web applications, and it is entirely self-paced. It is budgeted for 10 hours of lecture and practical learning, and by the end, students will have a working knowledge of database management using MySQL.

Created by: Charles Russell Severance

Produced in 2017

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Overall Score : 94 / 100

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Course Description

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sql Awards Best Advanced Course

In this course, you'll walk through installation steps for installing a text editor, installing MAMP or XAMPP (or equivalent) and creating a MySql Database. You'll learn about single table queries and the basic syntax of the SQL language, as well as database design with multiple tables, foreign keys, and the JOIN operation. Lastly, you'll learn to model many-to-many relationships like those needed to represent users, roles, and courses.

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Instructor Details

Charles Russell Severance

Charles Severance (a.k.a. Dr. Chuck) is a Clinical Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, where he teaches various technology-oriented courses including programming, database design, and Web development. Chuck has written a number of books including Using Google App Engine, and Python for Everybody. His research field is in the building of learning management systems such as Sakai, Moodle, Blackboard, ANGEL, and others. He was the chief architect for the Sakai Project, a learning management system used at about 300 schools worldwide and wrote the book Sakai: Free as in Freedom, that describes his experiences as one of the leaders of the project. In the mid-1990s he was the host of Internet:TCI, a national television talk show about the Internet that ran for several years on the TCI cable system. He was long-time a columnist for the IEEE Computer Magazine writing a monthly column called "Computing Conversations" that features video interviews with famous technology leaders and innovators.

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Reviews

4.7

116 total reviews

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By Alon D on 16-Sep-18

While I truly appreciate Dr. Severence's enthusiasm and his lectures on the historical and theoretical background of SQL (e.g., data models), I found this course lacking in a few aspects. The major one being the fact that it contains very little practice and active learning. I would recommend taking Sadie St. Lawrence's course (SQL for Data Science), which is also aimed at beginners but has a number advantages that I will list below. In the case that her lectures come across as confusing at some point (they're a bit faster, and perhaps skip a few of basic introductory points), take both courses - they only take about a day to complete. The main positive points in SQL for Data Science are: (1) Very structured course with downloadable comprehensive slides. (2) No need to download and install a SQL server. (3) The online coding practice is very engaging, but not too hard. (4) The course covers more material than this one in 4 weeks. BTW, If you are not a data scientist you may ignore some of the professional jargon that pops up occasionally (not too often) - it is not central to the course.

By Jorge F P on 14-Apr-18

The course covers SQL broadly and provides a few notions on how to design and create relational databases and what code to use. The lecturer is great, explains things well and clearly. However, the course's biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that it doesn't really teach how to use SQL. There a few examples on how to create tables and insert data into tables and examples of some, very limited, query commands. But that's it. It never explains the syntax, nor provides a list of commands in a structured way, detailing what they do and how they should be used. Furthermore, the assignments are way too easy. They basically require the learner to repeat what was covered in the lectures, whether the learner understands it or not. Since the lectures cover so little, it would be useful to have challenging assignments that would require a little independent research.

By Shilpa H on 17-Dec-18

Course is really informative, content and assignments are good

By d k on 17-Oct-18

The Instructor came down to the level of beginner and started with basics and baby steps (especially getting the MAMP ready) - I would have liked to do a couple of more exercises. I liked it and I will take courses offered by this instructor in future.

By Tao C on 3-Apr-19

Good to start with SQL, but a bit too easy for practical use.

By Zhengtao X on 12-Dec-18

A good course for start to use MySQL. Cheers! Charles!

By Ajay S on 12-Dec-18

BEst course i have ever taken about SQL, Instructor explanation is also very good and i like this course

By Umair A on 13-Dec-18

Great course for beginners. Dr. Chuck is the best.

By Adam P on 14-Dec-18

Fun, easy to follow, not super in depth but I undoubtedly walked away knowing significantly more than when I started. Definitely worth the time.

By Michelle R on 30-Nov-18

Loved this course. I helped me to realize it's possible for me to think this way to learn it.

By Kwai K H on 3-Dec-18

Thank you for teaching assistants for helping me while I had questions and got stuck during the course. Thank you for Coursera and Dr Chuck and teaching assistants again for the opportunity to learn.

By Behzad K on 10-Jan-19

A very Amazing course. Just Loved it!!!