SQL for Data Science

This class on Coursera is offered by UC Davis. The course description is as follows:

This course is designed to give you a primer in the fundamentals of SQL and working with data so that you can begin analyzing it for data science purposes. You will begin to ask the right questions and come up with good answers to deliver valuable insights for your organization. This course starts with the basics and assumes you do not have any knowledge or skills in SQL. It will build on that foundation and gradually have you write both simple and complex queries to help you select data from tables. You’ll start to work with different types of data like strings and numbers and discuss methods to filter and pare down your results.

You will create new tables and be able to move data into them. You will learn common operators and how to combine the data. You will use case statements and concepts like data governance and profiling. You will discuss topics on data, and practice using real-world programming assignments. You will interpret the structure, meaning, and relationships in source data and use SQL as a professional to shape your data for targeted analysis purposes.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/sql-for-data-science

Upsides:

• This is probably the single most valuable course I’ve taken on Coursera. You will be actively using SQL in your job within a day (assuming you have access to a SQL tool).
• For people who are a “Excel experts” and who have gained a decent bit of experience with BI software like Tableau, gaining SQL knowledge is the first step to hitting a new plateau.
• I’ve noticed three main types of flaws in online courses. Most courses are either braindead, have random immense difficulty spikes, or are completely directionless at points. Not here, though. The lessons are laid out logically and you always know exactly what to do.
• The video introductions and walkthroughs are done professionally and purposefully.

Downsides:

• If you already use SQL pretty regularly, you’ll gain absolutely nothing from this. This is a beginner’s course through and through.
• If you’re looking at the whole Learn SQL Basics for Data Science Specialization, you will have to grapple with the awful Data Wrangling and AB Testing with SQL. I’ve reviewed that atrocity here. I’d argue that you really don’t need the specialization; this course and the one on Spark SQL are enough.