Rediscovering SQL

Over the last few months, I've been taking an online course in Data Analytics to introduce me to the field. This course, run by Google, on Coursera, is called the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate.

Now I'm still in the middle of my course, but so far as part of my coursework, I've been working with data via Spreadsheets and SQL. As a Software Engineer, SQL was not entirely new to me. In fact, I felt that I already knew most of what there was to know. However, I quickly discovered that I was wrong.

What I knew of SQL (or the Structured Query Language), were the basics required to perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, & Delete) operations. But CRUD operations really just scratch the surface of what can be achieved with SQL. Using SQL, you can filter, sort, partition, combine, and basically mix and match your data in a variety of different ways.

In addition to this, you can also cast and convert from one data type to another, handle null values, and create temporary/transient tables to store values for a short time. I'm only halfway through my course and SQL is already fascinating me. So I'm looking forward to what comes next.