Using SQL to Report Data

Name: Using SQL to Report Data
Author: Eric Grose

Review how to utilize the SQL syntax to report data

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Eric, and in these lessons, you'll learn about how to use SQL to report data. In this lesson, I will show you how to utilize the SQL syntax to report data using SQL. SQL follows a very specific syntax, which has clauses that perform specific actions. So it's always going to start with the select clause, which will list the columns in the output, as well as the from clause, which will specify the data table. So if we look at our very simple employee table that has ID, name, and salary, I'm using what is called a star here, which is going to say return all the columns from this table in my output. And we'll look at the difference between just specifically selecting which columns you want to return back. So I'm going to hit Control Enter to execute this command. And you can see in my first query, it returns back all columns. And in my second query here, when I'm specific about which columns I want to come back, those are the root columns that come back in my result window. So building on that a bit further, we can add what is called a WHERE clause, which adds a condition to filter your data. So building upon our query, now we're going to add a WHERE clause to say where the ID is equal to 100. And you can use equal, doesn't equal, or you can also use different operators like greater than or less than. So let's take a look at what comes back when we say equal to 100, as well as salary is greater than 90,000. Let's go ahead and run those. And I scroll down here for my query that says where ID is equal to 100, only the row that had ID 100 comes back as expected. And for my query that said where salary is greater than 90,000, two values came back as expected. As well as you can add what is called an order by clause, which organizes the data based on the column selected. So we're going to build our query here. And I'm going to say select star, meaning give me back all the columns again, where salary is greater than 90. Now we're going to order by salary. And you can have that by default, it is in ascending order, meaning going from smallest to largest, or you can put it in descending order, going from largest to smallest. Let's go ahead and run those and look at those results. Okay, go all the way to the bottom here. You can see here is when we're saying order by with the default in ascending. And we can see that salary is ascending, starting from 100 and then going to 120,000. Or if we specify we wanted to go in descending order, we can now see that salary is coming back in descending order. And we just scratched the surface on what is possible using the SQL syntax to report data. Thank you for watching and stay tuned to the next lesson where I show you the aggregate functions in SQL.

Intermediate Provider : Eric Grose 3 Lessons · 10m in English

Course Description

Using SQL to report data requires you to have a detailed understanding of syntax and commands used within this language. Each commands is designed to allow you to manipulate or “slice and dice” your data. Taking it one step further, the analysts will gain firsthand experience connecting to a reporting tool that allows for data visualization.

Data visualization is the process of organizing the data into a particular structure and then matching that structure to the appropriate graph or visualization that represents their analysis. This is an extremely important and in-demand skill because it allows analysts to provide recommendations based on what they are seeing in the data. Also, these types of visualizations can be used for routine and ongoing analysis that happens over several months or years. The ideal scenario is to be able to “tell a story” with data based on your interpretations and being able to back up your claims with detailed data visualizations.

What You'll Learn

Apply SQL syntax and commands to manipulate and "slice and dice" data
Use aggregate functions to summarize data for reporting
Connect SQL tables to a reporting tool for data visualization
Build views and reports that structure data into appropriate visualizations
Recognize what works and what doesn't work when designing a report
Identify the "pyramid principle" to template how the most important information is conveyed

Key Takeaways

Reporting data with SQL requires a detailed understanding of the language's syntax and commands.
Data visualization organizes data into a structure and matches it to the appropriate graph or visualization that represents the analysis.
Data visualization is an in-demand skill because it lets analysts provide recommendations based on what they see in the data.
Visualizations can support routine and ongoing analysis that happens over several months or years.
The ideal outcome is telling a story with data and backing up claims with detailed data visualizations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will gain experience connecting SQL tables to reporting tools, recognize what works and what doesn't work when designing a report, and identify the "pyramid principle" for setting up a template to convey the most important information.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover an SQL Syntax Overview, Aggregate Functions, and Building Views/Reports.

What is data visualization in the context of this course?

Data visualization is the process of organizing data into a particular structure and then matching that structure to the appropriate graph or visualization that represents the analysis.

What skills does this course help build?

It helps build skills in Database Analysis, Database Programming, Database Reporting Software, SQL (Programming Language), SQL View, and Transact-SQL.

Why is data visualization described as important?

It is described as an extremely important and in-demand skill because it allows analysts to provide recommendations based on what they are seeing in the data, and the visualizations can be used for routine and ongoing analysis over several months or years.