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#2 in PostgreSQLUdemyBestseller on UdemyPostgresqlPaid courseAll LevelsCertificate

The Complete SQL Bootcamp: Go from Zero to Hero (Udemy.com)

Become an expert at SQL!

Created by: Jose Portilla

Last updated December 2022

Our take

Based on the ratings of 258,007 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in December 2022. No course pays to be reviewed.

Jose Portilla's SQL bootcamp has just over a million students and about 258,000 ratings averaging 4.7, with a Bestseller badge to match. It runs about nine hours across 83 lectures and teaches PostgreSQL through pgAdmin, starting with restoring a sample database and moving through SELECT, GROUP BY, joins, timestamps, table creation, and a short section on conditional expressions and procedures. It is built for people who have never written a query: analysts, career changers, anyone who needs to pull data out of a database without asking an engineer.

Reviewers keep coming back to the same praise. Portilla explains things in a plain, unhurried way, the videos are short, and the challenge questions after each section are pitched at the right difficulty. One reviewer with ADHD said nothing is explained in a convoluted way that makes you want to stop. The complaints are about scope. The low-star reviews say the course stops at intermediate level: window functions are not covered and are sold as a separate course, query optimisation is skipped, and one reviewer felt the second half moves too fast with too few worked examples.

The last update was December 2022, so the material is a few years old, though core SQL changes slowly and nothing in the reviews suggests broken setup steps. Compared with the MySQL bootcamps it sits beside, this one is Postgres based, which is the better choice if you are heading toward data analysis or a modern web stack. Treat it as a strong first course, not the last one.

Best forComplete beginners who want to write real queries in PostgreSQL, with challenge questions after every section.
Skip it ifYou already write joins and need window functions, query optimisation, or one-to-many join relationships covered.

Pros

  • Short, plain lectures; a reviewer with ADHD says nothing is explained in a convoluted way
  • Challenge questions after each section, pitched at the right difficulty according to reviewers
  • You restore a real sample database in pgAdmin at the start instead of just watching someone code
  • About 258,000 ratings at 4.7, with 5-star reviews outnumbering 1 and 2-star ones roughly 60 to 1

Cons

  • Stops at intermediate level: window functions and query optimisation are not covered
  • Last updated December 2022; some reviewers find the second half rushed with few worked examples
  • Only two quizzes and no coding exercises, so practice comes from the challenge videos alone
Really easy to follow. Great explaining and the challenges and tests really help with the learning
Mpilo Dlamini, a student

Listed as all levels, but it is a true zero-experience course; anyone who already writes joins will find the first half slow.

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What you will learn

  • Use SQL to query a database
  • Use SQL to perform data analysis
  • Be comfortable putting SQL and PostgreSQL on their resume
  • Learn to perform GROUP BY statements
  • Replicate real-world situations and query reports

Course content

12 sections · 83 lectures · 8.9 hours of video 2 quizzes, 14 articles

  1. 1Course Introduction 2 free previews8 lectures · 1.1 hours
  2. 2SQL Statement Fundamentals 2 free previews18 lectures · 1.6 hours
  3. 3GROUP BY Statements 2 free previews7 lectures · 41 min
  4. 4Assessment Test 13 lectures · 2 min
  5. 5JOINS 1 free preview9 lectures · 1.2 hours
  6. 6Advanced SQL Commands9 lectures · 1 hour
  7. 7Assessment Test 24 lectures · 33 min
  8. 8Creating Databases and Tables11 lectures · 1.3 hours
  9. 9Assessment Test 32 lectures · 1 min
  10. 10Conditional Expressions and Procedures8 lectures · 1.2 hours

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Anyone interested in learning more about SQL, PostgreSQL, or basic data analysis!

What you need before you start

  • No prior technical experience is required! All you need a computer!

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Course Description

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Postgresql Awards Sponsored

Learn how to use SQL quickly and effectively with this course!

You'll learn how to read and write complex queries to a database using one of the most in demand skills - PostgreSQL. These skills are also applicable to any other major SQL database, such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Amazon Redshift, Oracle, and much more.

Learning SQL is one of the fastest ways to improve your career prospects as it is one of the most in demand tech skills! In this course you'll learn quickly and receive challenges and tests along the way to improve your understanding!

In this course you will learn everything you need to become a SQL Pro! Including:

  • Get started with PostgreSQL and PgAdmin , two of the world's most popular SQL tools

  • Learn he basics of SQL syntax

  • Analyzing data using aggregate functions with GROUP BY commands

  • Running advanced queries with string operations and comparison operations

  • Learn to use logical operators to add logic flow to your SQL queries

  • Learn common SQL JOIN commands

  • Learn to create tables and databases with constraints on data entries

  • Learn to use Python to further advanced your SQL skills

  • and much, much more!

This is course that put's you in control, having you set up and restore databases right at the start of the course, instead of watching someone else code. Every section comes with fresh challenge questions and tasks, modeled after real world tasks and situations.

I've spent years as an instructor both online and in-person at Fortune 500 companies, and this course is built to combine the best of both worlds, allowing you to learn at your own pace through an interactive environment. You will start with the basics and soon find yourself working with advanced commands, dealing with timestamp data and variable character information like a seasoned professional.

SQL is one of the most in demand skills for business analysts, data scientists, and anyone who finds themselves working with data! Upgrade your skill set quickly and add SQL to your resume by joining today!

I'll see you inside the course!

Check out the free preview videos for more information!

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Instructor Details

Jose Portilla

Jose Marcial Portilla has a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University and years of experience as a professional instructor and trainer for Data Science, Machine Learning and Python Programming. He has publications and patents in various fields such as microfluidics, materials science, and data science. Over the course of his career he has developed a skill set in analyzing data and he hopes to use his experience in teaching and data science to help other people learn the power of programming, the ability to analyze data, and the skills needed to present the data in clear and beautiful visualizations. Currently he works as the Head of Data Science for Pierian Training and provides in-person data science and python programming training courses to employees working at top companies, including General Electric, Cigna, SalesForce, Starbucks, McKinsey and many more. Feel free to check out the website link to find out more information about training offerings.

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Reviews

4.7

258,007 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Maria Szary on 9/4/2026

Nicely explained and clear examples - both with Alias Register vs logged in - in join - I find as not good example for Alias *you have to register to be able to log in) Also SUM(amount) is not equal - net revenue) (total,gross revenue, but not net revenue Otherwise, great course

By neelam adhikari on 8/5/2026

The lecture is great, however, had issues while downloading the pgadmin app and resorting the data initially. Had to try multiple time to delect and download because there is no old version for the POSTgreSQL which made it difficut. However, now its working great after multiple attempts. The lecturer is clam and explains all the topic effortlessly.

By Shreyas on 7/18/2026

Coming from a non technical background I found this course really useful. The instructor was really good and the way he taught the course made it look really simple. All the resources provided in the course is of great relevance and help. I highly recommend this course.

By Angela Lainez on 7/16/2026

The course is very easy to follow, with clear explanations and a well-structured pace that makes the material approachable. I also really appreciate being able to go back and rewatch the videos whenever I need a refresher, which makes it much easier to reinforce the concepts and review key points at my own pace.

By Alejandro Foucault on 6/26/2026

Excellent course. Straight, to the point, trimmed of any extra fat, and just overall 100% great to pick up the basics of PostgreSQL without any hassle. The delivery was great, the pacing was excellent, the assignments were helpful and the concepts were learned.

By Ishaan Pandey on 6/10/2026

All information was not given while I was buying the course I was expecting windows functions would be covered but during some of the last lectures of the course I got to know that there is a separate course for it. Also in the bonus lecture which supposedly had discount coupons, I could only see course link and not any coupon codes which is kind of weird to mention without actually providing them.

By Bharat on 5/26/2026

Pretty good course for building a strong understanding of SQL fundamentals. The course is quite foundational in terms of both the topics covered and the difficulty level of the assignment questions. However, it is definitely a very good starting point for absolute beginners. I would highly recommend beginners start with this course rather than jumping directly into random free resources available on the internet.

By Panashe Kaletu on 5/16/2026

As someone coming from an economics and banking background with no prior SQL experience, this course was a great match for me. The instructor explains concepts in a very clear and structured way, making it easy to follow even as a complete beginner. I particularly enjoyed the sections on JOINs and GROUP BY statements, which I now feel confident using. Some sections like Math and String Functions required extra practice on my end, but the course gave me a solid enough foundation to figure things out. Balancing this course with a full time job in retail banking was not easy, but the pace of the course made it manageable. I would recommend this to anyone looking to get into SQL from scratch

By Ritik Dhakad on 4/28/2026

Amazing course with concepts required for corporate usage, though there are a few bugs in psycopg tutorial wherein psycopg.connect method do not take database as attribute (version 2 and 3), instead use dbname. Also, cursor object has no method as commit(), conn object has!

By Reginald Adams on 4/24/2026

Very Satisfied with what I learned. I learned enough to spark more interest in SQL and found interest in Python due to this course. Instructor, Thank you for not being monotoned and sounding like AI. I like it when I'm hearing from an actual person. Definitely taking more of your courses.

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 94 / 100