Without a doubt, practice is critical to mastering the Structured Query Language (SQL). While you can certainly create your own database and execute queries against it, the following online resources offer a more structured approach to learning:

All these sites offer interactive exercises to practice writing SQL statements within a web browser. I recommend working through one or even two of these tutorials to cement what we cover in class.

For anyone curious about SQL syntax, PostgreSQL’s documentation of SQL Commands is the most comprehensive that I’ve found. Granted, the amount of detail can be overwhelming at times, but it is extraordinarily thorough, including examples, and explicitly indicates deviations from the SQL standard and other popular relational database management systems. I do not expect this resource to be the first that you consult, but it is excellent when you have specific questions.

Please contact me if you use any of these resources. I’d love to know what you think of them, especially if they’re a useful supplement as you learn SQL.