Let’s begin with Chapter 1: Basic SQL Functions.

Here’s a breakdown of the topics with explanations,

examples, and analogies.

1. Introduction

Purpose: Introduces SQL basics for querying and managing data.

Analogy: Think of SQL as the language you use to "ask questions" to a library (database). Just like
you’d ask a librarian for books by a specific author or subject, you use SQL to fetch, sort, or modify
data in a database.

2. Setting Your Default Database and Schema

Before querying, you need to specify which "library" (database) and "section" (schema) you’ll be
working in.

Example:

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USE DATABASE my_library;

USE SCHEMA fiction_section;

Analogy: It’s like walking into a library and heading straight to the fiction section before browsing.

3. SELECT * (All Columns) in a Table

Fetches all columns from a table. Useful for exploring data but not efficient for larger datasets.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books;

Analogy: Like asking a librarian, "Show me every book in this section," without any specific
preferences.

4. SELECT Specific Columns in a Table

Fetches only the columns you need.

Example:

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SELECT title, author FROM books;

Analogy: Instead of asking for every detail about a book, you ask only for the title and author.

5. Commas in the Front or Back?

 SQL allows commas at the end of lines or the beginning of the next line in lists.

Preferred Style: Commas at the beginning improve debugging.

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SELECT

title

,author

,year

FROM books;

6. Sort the Data with the ORDER BY Keyword

Sort rows in ascending (default) or descending order.

Example:

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SELECT title, year FROM books

ORDER BY year DESC;

Analogy: Think of sorting books on a shelf by their publication year.

7. NULL Values

 Default Sorting: NULL values appear last in ascending order.

 Use NULLS FIRST or NULLS LAST to control the position.

Example:

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SELECT title FROM books

ORDER BY year ASC NULLS FIRST;

Analogy: Treat "unknown publication years" (NULL) as coming before known years.

8. Major Sort vs. Minor Sort

Sort data by multiple columns, prioritizing the first (major) and breaking ties with the second (minor).

Example:

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SELECT title, author, year FROM books

ORDER BY year DESC, author ASC;

Analogy: Sorting books by year, then alphabetically by author if two books share the same year.

9. Using CASE to Sort Logically

Sort based on custom conditions.

Example:

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SELECT title, year FROM books

ORDER BY CASE

WHEN year IS NULL THEN 1

ELSE 0

END, year ASC;

Analogy: If books without publication years are more important, prioritize them before sorting the
rest chronologically.

10. Using ALIAS for Column Names

Rename columns for readability.

Example:

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SELECT title AS book_title, author AS writer FROM books;

Analogy: It’s like labeling "row 1" as "fiction" and "row 2" as "non-fiction" for clarity.
11. Comments

 Single-line: -- Comment here

 Multi-line:

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/*

Multi-line

comment

*/

Analogy: Comments are like sticky notes on pages of a book, reminding you what something means.

12. Popular Snowflake Functions

Snowflake-specific functions make cloud-based data handling easier:

 TRY_CAST: Safely convert types.

 TO_DATE: Parse strings into dates.

Example:

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SELECT TO_DATE('2024-01-01', 'YYYY-MM-DD') AS formatted_date;

Let me know if you'd like to move to the next chapter, dive deeper into any section, or add exercises
for practice!

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 2: The WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is fundamental in SQL, allowing you to filter rows based on specified conditions.
Let’s dive into the key topics.
1. The WHERE Clause Limits Returning Rows

The WHERE clause ensures that only rows matching the condition are returned.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year > 2000;

This query returns all books published after the year 2000.

Analogy: Imagine sifting through a pile of books and only keeping those published in the 21st
century.

2. The WHERE Clause Needs Single-Quotes for Character Data

Character data in conditions must be enclosed in single quotes.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE author = 'J.K. Rowling';

Mistake:

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-- Error: Missing quotes

WHERE author = J.K. Rowling;

Analogy: Single quotes are like quotation marks when citing someone’s words in writing.

3. Numbers Don't Need Quotes

Numeric values do not require quotes in conditions.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year = 2021;

4. Searching for NULL Values Using Equality Returns Nothing

Equality checks (=) don't work with NULL. Use IS NULL instead.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE publisher IS NULL;

Analogy: NULL is like "unknown," and you can’t compare something to "unknown" directly.

5. Using Greater Than or Equal To (>=)

Retrieve rows where values are greater than or equal to a specific value.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year >= 2010;

6. Combining Conditions with AND

The AND keyword ensures all conditions are true.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year >= 2010 AND author = 'George Orwell';

7. Combining Conditions with OR

The OR keyword ensures at least one condition is true.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year < 2000 OR author = 'Agatha Christie';

8. Order of Precedence

AND has higher precedence than OR. Use parentheses to control the order.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE (year >= 2010 OR author = 'J.K. Rowling') AND genre = 'Fantasy';

Analogy: Parentheses are like grouping tasks in a to-do list to prioritize actions correctly.

9. Using IN for Multiple Values

The IN keyword simplifies conditions with multiple values.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE author IN ('J.K. Rowling', 'George Orwell', 'Agatha Christie');

10. Using NOT IN

Exclude specific values.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE author NOT IN ('J.K. Rowling', 'George Orwell');

11. Using BETWEEN

Fetch rows with values within a range. BETWEEN is inclusive.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE year BETWEEN 2000 AND 2010;

Analogy: It’s like setting filters on an e-commerce website for price ranges.

12. Using LIKE for Pattern Matching

 %: Matches zero or more characters.

 _: Matches exactly one character.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE title LIKE 'Harry%';

Analogy: % is a wildcard, like saying, "Show me all Harry-related books."

13. Using Upper, Lower, and ILIKE

 UPPER/LOWER: Normalize case for matching.

 ILIKE: Case-insensitive LIKE.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE title ILIKE 'harry%';

14. Escape Characters in LIKE

Escape wildcards using ESCAPE.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM books

WHERE title LIKE '%50\%%' ESCAPE '\';

This matches titles containing "50%".

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to find all books published before 1990.

2. Write a query to find books by authors whose names start with "A".

3. Write a query to find books where the genre is either "Fantasy" or "Science Fiction."

4. Write a query to find books with a NULL publisher.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 3: DISTINCT, GROUP BY, TOP, and PIVOT, or focus more on
exercises and examples for filtering data?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 3: DISTINCT, GROUP BY, TOP, and PIVOT

This chapter focuses on grouping, deduplication, and summarizing data. These functions are key to
aggregating and organizing results.

1. The DISTINCT Command

Removes duplicate rows, returning only unique records.

Example:

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SELECT DISTINCT genre FROM books;

This query returns a list of unique genres in the books table.

Analogy: It’s like taking a list of movie titles and only keeping one of each genre.

2. DISTINCT vs. GROUP BY

Both remove duplicates but are used differently:

  DISTINCT: Fetches unique values in selected columns.

 GROUP BY: Groups data for aggregation.

Example (GROUP BY):

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SELECT genre, COUNT(*) AS total_books

FROM books

GROUP BY genre;

This query groups books by genre and counts them.

Analogy: DISTINCT is asking, "What unique genres exist?" GROUP BY is asking, "How many books are
in each genre?"

3. TOP Command

Fetches the first n rows. Often paired with ORDER BY.

Example:

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SELECT TOP 5 title, year

FROM books

ORDER BY year DESC;

This query gets the 5 most recently published books.

Analogy: Like asking for the top 5 bestselling items in a store.

4. FETCH Clause

An alternative to TOP, commonly used with OFFSET.

Example:

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SELECT title, year

FROM books

ORDER BY year DESC

FETCH FIRST 5 ROWS ONLY;

This fetches the first 5 rows after sorting.

5. SAMPLE and TABLESAMPLE

Retrieve a random subset of rows.

Example (SAMPLE):

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SELECT * FROM books

SAMPLE (10);

Fetches approximately 10% of the rows randomly.

Analogy: Sampling is like picking a few random pages from a book to see if you want to read it.

6. PIVOT Command

Converts rows into columns for comparison or summarization.

Example:

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SELECT *

FROM books

PIVOT (SUM(sales) FOR genre IN ('Fiction', 'Non-Fiction', 'Sci-Fi')) AS pivot_table;

This summarizes sales by genre.

Analogy: It’s like reorganizing a budget table to see expenses by category as columns instead of rows.

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to get a list of unique publishers.

2. Use GROUP BY to count the number of books by each author.

3. Write a query to fetch the top 3 highest-selling books.

4. Use PIVOT to summarize the total sales of books across genres.

Would you like to move to Chapter 4: Aggregation, or focus on detailed examples and practice
problems for this chapter?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 4: Aggregation

This chapter delves into SQL aggregation, which involves summarizing data across rows. It’s critical
for generating insights from data.

1. Aggregation Basics

SQL supports functions like SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, and MAX to aggregate data.

Example (SUM):

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SELECT SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM books;

Calculates the total sales of all books.

Analogy: Think of adding up all the items in a grocery bill to find the total cost.

2. GROUP BY

Groups rows with the same values in specified columns for aggregation.

Example:

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SELECT genre, COUNT(*) AS total_books

FROM books

GROUP BY genre;

Counts the number of books in each genre.

Analogy: Imagine sorting books into piles by genre, then counting the books in each pile.
3. GROUP BY with Columns and Aggregates

Combines regular columns with aggregated data.

Example:

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SELECT author, genre, SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM books

GROUP BY author, genre;

Shows total sales per author and genre.

4. HAVING Clause

Filters aggregated results, similar to WHERE but for groups.

Example:

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SELECT genre, SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM books

GROUP BY genre

HAVING SUM(sales) > 1000;

Shows genres with total sales exceeding 1000.

Analogy: If WHERE is a pre-screening, HAVING is like final approval after grouping.

5. Advanced Grouping: GROUPING SETS, ROLLUP, and CUBE

 GROUPING SETS: Specifies multiple groupings in one query.

 ROLLUP: Creates subtotals and a grand total.

 CUBE: Provides totals for all combinations of grouping columns.

Example (ROLLUP):

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SELECT genre, author, SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM books
GROUP BY ROLLUP(genre, author);

Generates:

 Total sales by author.

 Total sales by genre.

 Overall total.

6. Troubleshooting Aggregates

Avoid mixing non-aggregated columns with aggregated ones unless included in GROUP BY.

Incorrect Example:

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SELECT author, SUM(sales)

FROM books;

Fix:

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SELECT author, SUM(sales)

FROM books

GROUP BY author;

Practice Exercises

1. Calculate the average sales for books in each genre.

2. Write a query to find the minimum and maximum publication year for each author.

3. Use HAVING to filter authors with total sales greater than 5000.

4. Use ROLLUP to find total sales by genre, by author, and overall.

Would you like to move to Chapter 5: Join Functions, or should we dive deeper into examples and
analogies for aggregation?

4o

You said:

yes
ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 5: Join Functions

Joins are used to combine rows from two or more tables based on a related column. This chapter
focuses on various types of joins and their practical uses.

1. A Two-Table Join Using Non-ANSI Syntax

The traditional (non-ANSI) join uses a WHERE clause to match rows.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b, authors a

WHERE b.author_id = a.author_id;

Analogy: Think of matching a library's book catalog to its author database by an ID.

2. A Two-Table Join Using ANSI Syntax

The modern, ANSI-standard JOIN uses an explicit ON clause.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

3. Left Outer Join

Includes all rows from the left table, even if there’s no match in the right table.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

LEFT JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

Result: If a book has no author listed, its title still appears with NULL for the author.

Analogy: It’s like listing all students in a class, even if some didn’t submit their homework.

4. Right Outer Join

Includes all rows from the right table, even if there’s no match in the left table.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

RIGHT JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

5. Full Outer Join

Includes all rows from both tables, filling in NULL where there are no matches.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

FULL OUTER JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

6. Inner Join with Additional Conditions

Adds further filtering conditions.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id

AND b.year > 2000;

7. Self-Join

A table is joined to itself, typically using aliases to differentiate instances.

Example:

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SELECT a1.name AS author1, a2.name AS author2

FROM authors a1

JOIN authors a2

ON a1.agent_id = a2.agent_id;

Use Case: Finding authors represented by the same agent.

8. The CROSS JOIN

Produces a Cartesian product, pairing each row from the first table with every row in the second
table.

Example:

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

CROSS JOIN authors a;

Analogy: Like every book in a bookstore being paired with every author, regardless of relevance.

9. The DREADED Product Join (Cartesian Product)

Occurs when two tables are joined without conditions, producing an excessively large result.
Example:

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SELECT *

FROM books, authors;

10. Associative Table (Bridge Table)

Used to handle many-to-many relationships between tables.

Example:
Three tables: books, categories, and a bridge table book_categories.

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SELECT b.title, c.category

FROM books b

JOIN book_categories bc

ON b.book_id = bc.book_id

JOIN categories c

ON bc.category_id = c.category_id;

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to fetch the names of authors and the titles of books they’ve written.

2. Use a LEFT JOIN to find books with no associated authors.

3. Use a FULL OUTER JOIN to list all books and all authors, even if unmatched.

4. Write a CROSS JOIN to pair every genre with every book title.

5. Create a query to find authors sharing the same literary agent using a SELF JOIN.

Would you like to move to Chapter 6: Date Functions, or focus on more exercises and examples for
joins?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:
ChatGPT

Chapter 6: Date Functions

Date functions allow you to work with dates and times in SQL, such as formatting, extracting parts of
a date, and performing date arithmetic.

1. Current Date

The CURRENT_DATE function returns the current date.

Example:

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SELECT CURRENT_DATE AS today;

Analogy: Think of it as a digital clock showing today’s date.

2. Current_Time and Current_Timestamp

 CURRENT_TIME: Returns the current time.

 CURRENT_TIMESTAMP: Returns the current date and time with precision.

Example:

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SELECT CURRENT_TIME AS now_time, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AS now_full;

3. Add or Subtract Days from a Date

You can use arithmetic or functions like DATEADD.

Example (Arithmetic):

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SELECT CURRENT_DATE + 5 AS future_date,

CURRENT_DATE - 5 AS past_date;

Example (DATEADD):

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SELECT DATEADD(day, 5, CURRENT_DATE) AS future_date;

4. Add Months Using ADD_MONTHS

Adds or subtracts a specific number of months.

Example:

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SELECT ADD_MONTHS(CURRENT_DATE, 3) AS three_months_later;

Analogy: Like flipping a calendar forward or backward by months.

5. Formatting Dates with TO_CHAR

Converts a date into a string with a specific format.

Example:

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SELECT TO_CHAR(CURRENT_DATE, 'YYYY-MM-DD') AS formatted_date;

Analogy: It’s like reformatting a date for a formal letter.

6. Extracting Parts of a Date

Use EXTRACT or DATE_PART to retrieve components like year, month, or day.

Example:

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SELECT EXTRACT(year FROM CURRENT_DATE) AS current_year,

EXTRACT(month FROM CURRENT_DATE) AS current_month;

Alternative Syntax:

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SELECT DATE_PART('year', CURRENT_DATE) AS current_year;

Analogy: Imagine taking apart a clock to examine its gears.

7. First and Last Day Functions

Find the first or last day of a specific month or year.

Example:

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SELECT DATEADD(month, DATEDIFF(month, 0, CURRENT_DATE), 0) AS first_day,

EOMONTH(CURRENT_DATE) AS last_day;

8. Calculating Differences with DATEDIFF

Determines the difference between two dates in specified units (days, months, etc.).

Example:

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SELECT DATEDIFF(day, '2024-01-01', CURRENT_DATE) AS days_difference;

Analogy: Like calculating the number of days until a vacation.

9. Finding the First Day of the Current Month

Example:

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SELECT DATE_TRUNC('month', CURRENT_DATE) AS first_day_of_month;

10. Using Intervals

INTERVAL allows adding or subtracting specific time units.

Example:

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SELECT CURRENT_DATE + INTERVAL '1 year' AS next_year,

CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '2 months' AS two_months_ago;

Practice Exercises
 1. Write a query to display today’s date, current time, and current timestamp.

2. Find the date exactly 45 days from today.

3. Calculate the difference in months between two dates.

4. Retrieve the first and last days of the current year.

5. Use TO_CHAR to format today’s date as DD-MON-YYYY.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 7: Analytics, or spend more time exploring date-related
examples and analogies?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 7: Analytics

This chapter covers analytical functions, which help perform complex calculations across datasets,
often used in reporting and business intelligence.

1. The ROW_NUMBER Command

Assigns a unique number to each row based on a specified order.

Example:

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SELECT title, author, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY year DESC) AS row_num

FROM books;

Output:

Title Author Row_Num

Book A Author X 1

Book B Author Y 2

Analogy: Like handing out ticket numbers to people standing in line.

2. RANK Command
Assigns ranks based on a specified order. Ties get the same rank, skipping subsequent numbers.

Example:

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SELECT title, author, RANK() OVER (ORDER BY sales DESC) AS rank

FROM books;

Output:

Title Author Rank

Book A Author X 1

Book B Author Y 2

Book C Author Z 2

Analogy: Like a competition where two runners tie for second place.

3. DENSE_RANK

Similar to RANK, but it does not skip ranks after ties.

Example:

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SELECT title, author, DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY sales DESC) AS dense_rank

FROM books;

Output:

Title Author Dense_Rank

Book A Author X 1

Book B Author Y 2

Book C Author Z 2

Analogy: Imagine runners tying in a race, but the next runner is still given third place.

4. PARTITION BY

Divides data into groups for ranking or other analytics.

Example:
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SELECT title, genre, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY genre ORDER BY sales DESC) AS row_num

FROM books;

Output:

Title Genre Row_Num

Book A Fiction 1

Book B Fiction 2

Book C Non-Fiction 1

Analogy: Like ranking students within their respective classes.

5. CSUM (Cumulative Sum)

Calculates a running total.

Example:

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SELECT title, sales, SUM(sales) OVER (ORDER BY sales) AS cumulative_sales

FROM books;

Output:

Title Sales Cumulative_Sales

Book A 100 100

Book B 200 300

Analogy: Like adding expenses one by one to calculate a growing total.

6. MOVING AVERAGE

Calculates an average over a rolling window of rows.

Example:

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SELECT title, sales, AVG(sales) OVER (ROWS 2 PRECEDING) AS moving_avg

FROM books;

7. LEAD and LAG

 LEAD: Fetches values from the next row.

 LAG: Fetches values from the previous row.

Example (LEAD):

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SELECT title, sales, LEAD(sales) OVER (ORDER BY year) AS next_sales

FROM books;

Output:

Title Sales Next_Sales

Book A 100 200

Book B 200 NULL

8. FIRST_VALUE and LAST_VALUE

 FIRST_VALUE: Gets the first value in a window.

 LAST_VALUE: Gets the last value in a window.

Example:

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SELECT title, FIRST_VALUE(sales) OVER (ORDER BY year) AS first_sales

FROM books;

9. NTILE

Divides rows into a specified number of groups.

Example:

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SELECT title, sales, NTILE(4) OVER (ORDER BY sales DESC) AS quartile

FROM books;
Output:

Title Sales Quartile

Book A 400 1

Book B 300 2

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to assign a rank to books by sales within each genre.

2. Use LEAD to find the sales of the next book by publication year.

3. Calculate a cumulative sales total for all books.

4. Divide books into 3 quartiles based on sales using NTILE.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 8: Temporary Tables, or spend more time on analytical
functions with examples?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 8: Temporary Tables

Temporary tables are transient objects in SQL, used for intermediate calculations or temporary data
storage. They exist only for the duration of a session.

1. Creating a Temporary Table

A temporary table is created with the keyword TEMP or TEMPORARY.

Example:

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CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_books (

book_id INT,

title VARCHAR(100),

sales INT
);

Key Points:

 Temporary tables are only accessible within the session in which they are created.

 They are automatically dropped when the session ends.

Analogy: Think of it as a scratchpad that gets erased once you leave the room.

2. Creating a Temporary Table with CTAS (CREATE TABLE AS SELECT)

Create and populate a temporary table using an existing table.

Example:

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CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_high_sales AS

SELECT title, sales

FROM books

WHERE sales > 1000;

Output: A temporary table temp_high_sales containing only books with sales greater than 1000.

Analogy: Like copying a specific section of notes into a temporary notebook for quick reference.

3. Using Temporary Tables

Temporary tables can be queried just like regular tables.

Example:

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SELECT * FROM temp_books;

4. Dropping a Temporary Table

Although temporary tables are dropped automatically when a session ends, they can be explicitly
removed.

Example:

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DROP TABLE temp_books;

Analogy: Like throwing away a scratchpad once you're done with it.

5. With Recursive Derived Tables

Temporary tables can be used recursively to calculate hierarchical data or iterate over data.

Example:

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WITH RECURSIVE temp_hierarchy AS (

SELECT employee_id, manager_id, 1 AS level

FROM employees

WHERE manager_id IS NULL

UNION ALL

SELECT e.employee_id, e.manager_id, th.level + 1

FROM employees e

JOIN temp_hierarchy th

ON e.manager_id = th.employee_id

SELECT * FROM temp_hierarchy;

Use Case: Building an organizational hierarchy.

Analogy: Like constructing a family tree layer by layer.

6. Multiple Temporary Tables in One Query

You can use multiple temporary tables in the same query for complex operations.

Example:

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WITH temp_sales AS (

SELECT book_id, SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM sales

GROUP BY book_id
),

temp_genres AS (

SELECT book_id, genre

FROM books

SELECT tg.genre, ts.total_sales

FROM temp_sales ts

JOIN temp_genres tg

ON ts.book_id = tg.book_id;

Practice Exercises

1. Create a temporary table that stores books published after the year 2000.

2. Write a query to populate a temporary table with authors who have written more than 3
books.

3. Use a WITH RECURSIVE query to generate a hierarchical report of departments and sub-
departments.

4. Drop a temporary table explicitly after performing operations.

Would you like to move to Chapter 9: Sub-query Functions, or focus more on examples and exercises
related to temporary tables?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 9: Sub-query Functions

Subqueries are nested SQL queries used to retrieve intermediate results for use in a larger query.
They are versatile and can simplify complex logic.

1. The Subquery

A subquery is enclosed in parentheses and can return a single value, a list of values, or a table.

Example:
Fetch books with sales higher than the average sales.
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SELECT title, sales

FROM books

WHERE sales > (SELECT AVG(sales) FROM books);

Analogy: Like solving a math problem by first calculating the average and then comparing each
number to it.

2. Types of Subqueries

 Single-Value Subquery: Returns one value.

 Multi-Value Subquery: Returns a list of values.

 Table Subquery: Acts as a derived table.

Example (Multi-Value):

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SELECT title

FROM books

WHERE author_id IN (SELECT author_id FROM authors WHERE country = 'UK');

Analogy: Imagine filtering books written by authors from the UK.

3. Correlated Subqueries

A correlated subquery references columns from the outer query, executing once for each row.

Example:
Find books where the sales exceed the average sales for their genre.

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SELECT title, genre, sales

FROM books b1

WHERE sales > (SELECT AVG(sales)

FROM books b2

WHERE b2.genre = b1.genre);

Analogy: Like comparing each book’s sales to the average sales of books in the same genre.
4. Subquery vs. JOIN

Subqueries can often be replaced with joins, which may perform better in some cases.

Example (Using JOIN):

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SELECT b.title, a.name

FROM books b

JOIN authors a

ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

Example (Using Subquery):

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SELECT title

FROM books

WHERE author_id IN (SELECT author_id FROM authors);

Key Difference:

 Subqueries are easier to read in specific scenarios.

 Joins are typically more performant for larger datasets.

5. Using EXISTS and NOT EXISTS

 EXISTS: Checks if a subquery returns any rows.

 NOT EXISTS: Ensures no rows are returned.

Example (EXISTS):

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SELECT title

FROM books b

WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1

FROM sales s

WHERE b.book_id = s.book_id AND s.sales > 1000);

Example (NOT EXISTS):

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SELECT title

FROM books b

WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1

FROM sales s

WHERE b.book_id = s.book_id);

Analogy: EXISTS is like asking, "Does this book have any sales over 1000?"

6. Common Mistakes with Subqueries

 Using = with Multi-Value Subqueries:

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-- Incorrect:

SELECT title

FROM books

WHERE genre = (SELECT genre FROM genres);

Use IN instead:

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SELECT title

FROM books

WHERE genre IN (SELECT genre FROM genres);

 Ignoring NULLs in Subqueries: NULL values can lead to unexpected results. Use IS NOT NULL
to avoid issues.

7. Subqueries in SELECT and FROM Clauses

 In SELECT: Use a subquery to calculate a derived column.

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SELECT title, (SELECT AVG(sales) FROM books) AS avg_sales

FROM books;

 In FROM: Use a subquery as a derived table.

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SELECT genre, AVG(sales) AS avg_sales

FROM (SELECT genre, sales FROM books WHERE sales > 100) sub

GROUP BY genre;

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to find authors who have written more than one book.

2. Use a correlated subquery to find books with sales higher than the average sales in their
genre.

3. Use EXISTS to find books that have at least one sale record.

4. Write a subquery in the FROM clause to calculate total sales by genre.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 10: Strings, or spend more time practicing and exploring
subqueries?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 10: Strings

String functions are used to manipulate text data in SQL. These functions help extract, transform, or
format textual data effectively.

1. UPPER and LOWER Functions

 UPPER: Converts text to uppercase.

 LOWER: Converts text to lowercase.

Example:

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SELECT UPPER(title) AS uppercase_title, LOWER(author) AS lowercase_author

FROM books;

Analogy: UPPER is shouting the text, while LOWER is whispering it.

2. LENGTH Function

Counts the number of characters in a string.

Example:

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SELECT title, LENGTH(title) AS title_length

FROM books;

Output:

Title Title_Length

The Great Gatsby 16

3. TRIM, RTRIM, and LTRIM Functions

 TRIM: Removes leading and trailing spaces.

 LTRIM: Removes leading spaces.

 RTRIM: Removes trailing spaces.

Example:

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SELECT TRIM(' Hello ') AS trimmed, LTRIM(' Hello ') AS left_trimmed, RTRIM(' Hello ') AS
right_trimmed;

Output:

Trimmed Left_Trimmed Right_Trimmed

Hello Hello Hello

Analogy: Like cleaning up the edges of a piece of paper.

4. Concatenation
Combines multiple strings into one.

Example:

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SELECT title || ' by ' || author AS full_title

FROM books;

Output:

Full_Title

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Analogy: Like gluing pieces of text together to form a complete sentence.

5. SUBSTR and SUBSTRING

Extracts a portion of a string based on position.

Example:

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SELECT SUBSTR(title, 1, 5) AS snippet

FROM books;

Output:

Snippet

The G

Analogy: Like cutting a section out of a piece of text.

6. LPAD and RPAD

Pads a string with a specified character to a certain length.

Example:

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SELECT LPAD(title, 20, '-') AS left_padded, RPAD(title, 20, '-') AS right_padded

FROM books;

Output:
Left_Padded Right_Padded

----The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby----

7. POSITION and CHARINDEX

 POSITION: Finds the starting position of a substring.

 CHARINDEX: Works similarly but offers more compatibility.

Example:

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SELECT POSITION('Great' IN title) AS position

FROM books;

Output:

Position

8. REPLACE Function

Replaces occurrences of a substring with another string.

Example:

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SELECT REPLACE(title, 'Great', 'Amazing') AS new_title

FROM books;

Output:

New_Title

The Amazing Gatsby

9. REGEXP Functions

 REGEXP_REPLACE: Replace substrings based on a regular expression.

 REGEXP_INSTR: Find the position of a match based on a regular expression.

Example:

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SELECT REGEXP_REPLACE(title, '\\bGreat\\b', 'Amazing') AS new_title

FROM books;

Output:

New_Title

The Amazing Gatsby

10. SOUNDEX Function

Returns a phonetic representation of a string to find similar-sounding words.

Example:

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SELECT SOUNDEX('Gatsby') AS soundex_code;

Output:

Soundex_Code

G321

Analogy: It’s like using pronunciation to find names that sound similar.

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to convert all book titles to uppercase.

2. Use SUBSTR to extract the first 10 characters from every book title.

3. Find the position of the word "Gatsby" in the title.

4. Replace the word "Great" with "Fantastic" in book titles.

5. Use TRIM to remove extra spaces from a column containing book descriptions.

Would you like to move to Chapter 11: Interrogating the Data, or spend more time exploring string-
related examples and analogies?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:
ChatGPT

Chapter 11: Interrogating the Data

This chapter focuses on numeric and logical functions for manipulating and analyzing data. These
functions are essential for computations, conditional logic, and handling missing values.

1. Numeric Manipulation Functions

SQL provides functions for numerical operations such as rounding, flooring, and ceiling.

a. CEILING and FLOOR

 CEILING: Rounds a number up to the nearest integer.

 FLOOR: Rounds a number down to the nearest integer.

Example:

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SELECT CEILING(5.3) AS ceil_result, FLOOR(5.3) AS floor_result;

Output:

Ceil_Result Floor_Result

6 5

Analogy: CEILING is like always climbing to the next floor, while FLOOR is staying where you are.

b. ROUND

Rounds a number to the specified number of decimal places.

Example:

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SELECT ROUND(5.345, 2) AS rounded_value;

Output:

Rounded_Value

5.35

2. NULLIF Command

Returns NULL if two values are equal; otherwise, it returns the first value.
Example:

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SELECT NULLIF(5, 5) AS result, NULLIF(5, 3) AS result2;

Output:

Result Result2

NULL 5

Analogy: It’s like saying, "Give me nothing if these two are the same."

3. COALESCE Command

Returns the first non-NULL value from a list.

Example:

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SELECT COALESCE(NULL, NULL, 'Value Found') AS result;

Output:

Result

Value Found

Analogy: Like checking multiple drawers until you find the one with something inside.

4. CASE Statement

The CASE statement adds conditional logic to queries.

a. Simple CASE

Matches a value against conditions.

Example:

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SELECT title,

CASE genre

WHEN 'Fiction' THEN 'Novel'

WHEN 'Non-Fiction' THEN 'Documentary'

 ELSE 'Other'

END AS category

FROM books;

Output:

Title Category

The Great Gatsby Novel

b. Searched CASE

Uses logical conditions.

Example:

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SELECT title,

CASE

WHEN sales > 1000 THEN 'Bestseller'

WHEN sales BETWEEN 500 AND 1000 THEN 'Average'

ELSE 'Low'

END AS sales_category

FROM books;

Output:

Title Sales_Category

The Great Gatsby Bestseller

Analogy: CASE is like a flowchart where different inputs lead to different outcomes.

5. CAST and CONVERT

Converts data types.

Example:

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SELECT CAST(5.67 AS INT) AS int_value,

CAST('2024-01-01' AS DATE) AS date_value;

Output:

Int_Value Date_Value

5 2024-01-01

6. Logical Functions

a. ISNULL and IS NOT NULL

Checks if a value is NULL or not.

Example:

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SELECT title,

CASE WHEN publisher IS NULL THEN 'Unknown' ELSE publisher END AS publisher_status

FROM books;

b. Boolean Logic

Combines conditions using AND, OR, and NOT.

Example:

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SELECT title

FROM books

WHERE sales > 500 AND genre = 'Fiction';

Practice Exercises

1. Use ROUND to round the price of books to the nearest whole number.

2. Write a query using COALESCE to replace NULL publishers with "Not Available."

3. Use a CASE statement to categorize books as "High Sales," "Moderate Sales," or "Low Sales"
based on sales values.

4. Convert a string column to a date format using CAST.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 12: View Functions, or focus on additional examples and
exercises from this chapter?
4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 12: View Functions

Views are virtual tables that represent the result of a SQL query. They help encapsulate complex
queries and make them reusable without storing data physically.

1. Fundamentals of Views

A view is created using the CREATE VIEW statement and can be queried like a table.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW top_selling_books AS

SELECT title, sales

FROM books

WHERE sales > 1000;

Usage:

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SELECT * FROM top_selling_books;

Key Points:

 A view does not store data; it dynamically fetches results.

 Useful for simplifying complex queries.

Analogy: A view is like a reusable filter applied to a spreadsheet.

2. Creating a Simple View to Restrict Columns

Limit the columns exposed by a table.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW author_names AS

SELECT author_id, name

FROM authors;

3. Creating a View to Restrict Rows

Filter rows in the underlying table.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW recent_books AS

SELECT title, year

FROM books

WHERE year > 2015;

4. Creating a View to Join Tables Together

Combine data from multiple tables.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW book_details AS

SELECT b.title, a.name AS author_name, b.sales

FROM books b

JOIN authors a ON b.author_id = a.author_id;

Usage:

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SELECT * FROM book_details WHERE sales > 5000;

Analogy: A view joining tables is like merging two Excel sheets into one.

5. Modifying a View
Views cannot be modified directly. You must drop and recreate the view.

Example:

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DROP VIEW top_selling_books;

CREATE VIEW top_selling_books AS

SELECT title, sales, genre

FROM books

WHERE sales > 1000;

6. Derived Columns in Views

You can create computed columns within a view.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW book_sales_with_vat AS

SELECT title, sales, sales * 0.15 AS vat

FROM books;

Output:

Title Sales VAT

The Great Gatsby 1000 150

7. Rules for Views

 Views cannot include ORDER BY unless paired with TOP or FETCH.

 Every derived column must have an alias.

Incorrect Example:

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CREATE VIEW example_view AS

SELECT sales * 0.15

FROM books;

Fix:

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CREATE VIEW example_view AS

SELECT sales * 0.15 AS vat

FROM books;

8. Aggregates on Views

Views can include aggregated data.

Example:

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CREATE VIEW total_sales_by_genre AS

SELECT genre, SUM(sales) AS total_sales

FROM books

GROUP BY genre;

Usage:

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SELECT * FROM total_sales_by_genre WHERE total_sales > 10000;

Practice Exercises

1. Create a view that lists only book titles and authors.

2. Write a view that shows total sales for each author.

3. Create a view that joins books and categories tables and shows books by category.

4. Modify an existing view to include a calculated column showing sales with a 10% discount.

Would you like to move to Chapter 13: UNION Set Operator, or explore more examples and exercises
on views?

4o
You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 13: UNION Set Operator

The UNION set operator combines results from two or more SELECT statements into a single result
set. This chapter explores different set operators and their use cases.

1. Rules of Set Operators

 All queries must have the same number of columns in the SELECT list.

 Corresponding columns must have compatible data types.

 The order of columns matters.

Example:

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SELECT title, author FROM books

UNION

SELECT title, author FROM archived_books;

Analogy: Think of combining two lists of attendees from different events into one consolidated list.

2. UNION

Combines results and removes duplicates.

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

UNION

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Output:

Genre

Fiction
Genre

Non-Fiction

Mystery

Analogy: Like merging two sets of cards and removing duplicates.

3. UNION ALL

Similar to UNION but retains duplicates.

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

UNION ALL

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Output:

Genre

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Mystery

Fiction

Analogy: Like stacking two identical decks of cards without removing duplicates.

4. INTERSECT

Returns only rows that are present in both result sets.

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

INTERSECT

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Output:
Genre

Fiction

Mystery

Analogy: Like finding common names on two guest lists.

5. EXCEPT (or MINUS)

Returns rows from the first query that are not in the second.

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

EXCEPT

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Output:

Genre

Non-Fiction

Analogy: Like identifying names that appear on one list but not another.

6. Set Operator Precedence

By default:

1. INTERSECT is evaluated first.

2. Then UNION and EXCEPT (processed left to right).

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

UNION

SELECT genre FROM archived_books

INTERSECT

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Parentheses for Control:

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(SELECT genre FROM books

UNION

SELECT genre FROM archived_books)

INTERSECT

SELECT genre FROM genres;

7. Using UNION with Literals

Add constant values to your query result.

Example:

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SELECT 'Active' AS status, title FROM books

UNION ALL

SELECT 'Archived' AS status, title FROM archived_books;

Output:

Status Title

Active The Great Gatsby

Archived Old Man and the Sea

8. Combining SET Operators

Use multiple operators together to manipulate data.

Example:

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SELECT genre FROM books

UNION ALL

SELECT genre FROM archived_books

EXCEPT

SELECT genre FROM genres;

Output: Genres that are in books or archived_books but not in genres.

Practice Exercises

1. Write a query to combine book genres from books and genres, ensuring no duplicates.

2. Use INTERSECT to find common authors in books and archived_books.

3. Write a query using UNION ALL to display all genres from books and genres with duplicates
included.

4. Use EXCEPT to identify genres in books that are not in genres.

Would you like to move to Chapter 14: Creating Tables, or focus on more examples and exercises for
set operators?

4o

You said:

yes

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 14: Creating Tables

This chapter focuses on creating and managing tables in SQL. Tables are the fundamental structures
where data is stored in relational databases.

1. Show Databases and Table DDL Commands

 List Databases:

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SHOW DATABASES;

 List Tables in a Database:

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SHOW TABLES IN DATABASE my_database;

 View Table Structure:

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DESCRIBE TABLE books;

2. Create Table Syntax

Define the structure of a new table.

Example:

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CREATE TABLE books (

book_id INT PRIMARY KEY,

title VARCHAR(100),

author_id INT,

genre VARCHAR(50),

published_date DATE,

sales INT

);

Key Points:

 Specify column names, data types, and constraints (e.g., PRIMARY KEY, NOT NULL).

3. Creating Temporary and Transient Tables

 Temporary Tables: Exist only during the session.

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CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_books (

title VARCHAR(100),

sales INT

);

 Transient Tables: Persist across sessions but are not fully permanent.

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CREATE TRANSIENT TABLE transient_books (

title VARCHAR(100),
 genre VARCHAR(50)

);

Use Case: Temporary tables are for intermediate calculations, while transient tables are for data you
might delete later.

4. Clustering Keys for Performance

Clustering keys optimize how data is physically stored for faster querying.

Example:

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CREATE TABLE books (

book_id INT,

title VARCHAR(100),

genre VARCHAR(50),

sales INT

CLUSTER BY (genre, sales);

5. Creating Tables with Constraints

 NOT NULL: Prevents NULL values.

 PRIMARY KEY: Unique identifier for each row.

 FOREIGN KEY: Creates relationships between tables.

Example:

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CREATE TABLE authors (

author_id INT PRIMARY KEY,

name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL

);

CREATE TABLE books (

 book_id INT PRIMARY KEY,

title VARCHAR(100),

author_id INT,

FOREIGN KEY (author_id) REFERENCES authors(author_id)

);

Analogy: A primary key is like a unique barcode for each product, and a foreign key is like a reference
to another product in a related catalog.

6. Creating Tables with LIKE

Copies the structure of an existing table.

Example:

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CREATE TABLE books_copy LIKE books;

7. CREATE TABLE AS (CTAS)

Creates a table and populates it with the results of a query.

Example:

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CREATE TABLE top_selling_books AS

SELECT title, sales

FROM books

WHERE sales > 1000;

8. Comparing Table Types

Feature Permanent Table Transient Table Temporary Table

Lifetime Permanent Until explicitly dropped Session-only

Metadata Retention Yes No No

Recovery Options Yes Limited No

Practice Exercises

1. Create a permanent table for storing user data with columns for user_id, name, and email.

2. Write a query to create a temporary table that stores the top 10 bestselling books.

3. Use CTAS to create a new table with books published after 2010.

4. Add a FOREIGN KEY constraint to relate the books table to an authors table.

Would you like to proceed to Chapter 15: Data Manipulation Language (DML), or explore more
examples on table creation?

4o

You said:

15

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Chapter 15: Data Manipulation Language (DML)

The Data Manipulation Language (DML) allows you to insert, update, and delete data in SQL tables.

1. INSERT Syntax

Add new rows to a table.

a. Basic INSERT

Insert a single row.

Example:

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INSERT INTO books (book_id, title, author_id, genre, published_date, sales)

VALUES (1, 'The Great Gatsby', 101, 'Fiction', '1925-04-10', 5000);

b. INSERT with Multiple Rows

Insert multiple rows in one statement.

Example:

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INSERT INTO books (book_id, title, author_id, genre, published_date, sales)

VALUES

(2, 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 102, 'Fiction', '1960-07-11', 4000),

(3, '1984', 103, 'Dystopian', '1949-06-08', 6000);

c. INSERT Using SELECT

Insert data from another table or query.

Example:

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INSERT INTO archived_books (book_id, title, author_id, genre, sales)

SELECT book_id, title, author_id, genre, sales

FROM books

WHERE sales < 1000;

Use Case: Migrating low-selling books to an archive table.

2. UPDATE Syntax

Modify existing rows.

a. Basic UPDATE

Update specific rows based on a condition.

Example:

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UPDATE books

SET sales = sales + 500

WHERE genre = 'Fiction';

b. UPDATE with Subquery

Use a subquery to update rows.

Example:

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UPDATE books

SET author_id = (SELECT author_id FROM authors WHERE name = 'George Orwell')

WHERE title = '1984';

3. DELETE Syntax

Remove rows from a table.

a. Basic DELETE

Delete specific rows.

Example:

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DELETE FROM books

WHERE sales < 1000;

b. Delete All Rows

Clear all rows in a table without dropping the structure.

Example:

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DELETE FROM books;

4. Truncate Table

A faster alternative to delete all rows.

Example:

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TRUNCATE TABLE books;

Key Difference: Unlike DELETE, TRUNCATE cannot be rolled back.

5. Handling NULL Values in DML

 To insert a NULL value:

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INSERT INTO books (book_id, title, sales)

VALUES (4, 'Unknown Title', NULL);

 To update NULL values:

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UPDATE books

SET sales = 0

WHERE sales IS NULL;

Practice Exercises

1. Insert a row for a new book titled "Invisible Man" with 3000 sales.

2. Update the genre of all books written before 1950 to "Classic."

3. Delete all rows where sales are below 500.

4. Use INSERT INTO ... SELECT to copy books published after 2000 to a new table.

Would you like to continue to Chapter 16: Statistical Aggregate Functions, or spend more time
exploring DML examples?