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[self plug] On https://pgexercises.com https://pgexercises.com I focus quite a bit on developing a mental model for SQL. I would suggest not skipping the easie

[self plug] On https://pgexercises.com https://pgexercises.com I focus quite a bit on developing a mental model for SQL. I would suggest not skipping the easier exercises - even if you can do the SQL, you might find the explanations useful.

pinouchon 10y ago
I second this. A few months ago, I went through all the exercices (completing everything but 3 of the most advanced). Very easy to get going and very hands-on.
- AlisdairO 10y ago
  Thanks, appreciate it :-)
shiny 10y ago
Man, thank you so much for creating this. You should find some way to monetize it. I thought I had a decent grasp of SQL before, but this is what really helped me grok it ... especially the consistent 'everything is table' lesson. Oh and I had an idea for practicing deletions/insertions/updates & other behavior that you couldn't do on web: create an Electron app that uses a local db. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.
- AlisdairO 10y ago
  No problem - it's really gratifying to know that it helped you. I'm not so interested in monetizing - I've received an awful lot from the wider OSS community, and I did the project as a way to give something back. That is a really good idea on the app. I do have some ideas for making DDL and DML available via the web interface, but sadly I'm extremely short on free time in the last couple of years.
  - afarrell 10y ago
    > extremely short on free time in the last couple of years I wish you and the flexboxfroggy guy has a patreon account so I could pay y'all to make games/exercises that improved my mental model of things.
    - AlisdairO 10y ago
      I'm fortunate in my career - while more money is always nice, I'm at the point now where it would have to be an awful lot to persuade me to take more time away from my (very young) family. I suspect all a patreon would accomplish would be my still producing slowly on the site but now feeling guilty about it :-). Maintaining the site is in many ways its own reward - it gives me a great deal of joy to see how much it's used now. Improvements are actually a reasonably high priority for me, it's just that toddlers have a way of creating their own special priority levels :-). All that said, I very much appreciate the sentiment!
gidan 10y ago
(Top menu broken on IOS iPad)
- AlisdairO 10y ago
  Thanks - I'll try to get hold of an ios device to test it on. Sadly my webdev skills are fairly lol-worthy ;-)
MistahKoala 10y ago
I've been looking for stuff like this - thanks. I'm trying to start a career as a BA and expect that it will be handy to know SQL, which is fine, but I haven't been able to find anything out there that simulate the kind of scenarios and tasks SQL would be used in. I suppose your site is a step closer to that.
- minhaz23 10y ago
  Hows the step into BA going for ya? What kind of things besides SQL do you have to learn?
  - MistahKoala 10y ago
    Not great! Plenty of vacancies for BAs and junior BAs alike, but they all stipulate experience. I've been looking for graduate BA vacancies, but - outside of London - they're few and far between. A few BA roles are also quite heavy on the numerate side of things, which I have to cast aside. Aside from SQL, I've got UML and Visio on my to-do list. There's also the BABOK reference, but it sounds like it's something that only really starts to make sense when you have something to apply it to and observe.
rorykoehler 10y ago
This looks great. Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
- AlisdairO 10y ago
  No worries - hope you find it useful.
mlinksva 10y ago
I worked through many of these when discussed here 7 months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12022953 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12022953 ... really enjoyable, great refresher, and learned some things I never knew before.
- AlisdairO 10y ago
  Thanks :-)
AlexAMEEE 10y ago
You could also add some ads, I'd gladly deactivate my adblocker, a site that produces so much value should get something in return. Great site, thanks

pinouchon 10y ago

I second this. A few months ago, I went through all the exercices (completing everything but 3 of the most advanced). Very easy to get going and very hands-on.

AlisdairO 10y ago
Thanks, appreciate it :-)

shiny 10y ago

Man, thank you so much for creating this. You should find some way to monetize it. I thought I had a decent grasp of SQL before, but this is what really helped me grok it ... especially the consistent 'everything is table' lesson. Oh and I had an idea for practicing deletions/insertions/updates & other behavior that you couldn't do on web: create an Electron app that uses a local db. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

AlisdairO 10y ago
No problem - it's really gratifying to know that it helped you. I'm not so interested in monetizing - I've received an awful lot from the wider OSS community, and I did the project as a way to give something back. That is a really good idea on the app. I do have some ideas for making DDL and DML available via the web interface, but sadly I'm extremely short on free time in the last couple of years.
- afarrell 10y ago
  > extremely short on free time in the last couple of years I wish you and the flexboxfroggy guy has a patreon account so I could pay y'all to make games/exercises that improved my mental model of things.
  - AlisdairO 10y ago
    I'm fortunate in my career - while more money is always nice, I'm at the point now where it would have to be an awful lot to persuade me to take more time away from my (very young) family. I suspect all a patreon would accomplish would be my still producing slowly on the site but now feeling guilty about it :-). Maintaining the site is in many ways its own reward - it gives me a great deal of joy to see how much it's used now. Improvements are actually a reasonably high priority for me, it's just that toddlers have a way of creating their own special priority levels :-). All that said, I very much appreciate the sentiment!

gidan 10y ago

(Top menu broken on IOS iPad)

AlisdairO 10y ago
Thanks - I'll try to get hold of an ios device to test it on. Sadly my webdev skills are fairly lol-worthy ;-)

MistahKoala 10y ago

I've been looking for stuff like this - thanks. I'm trying to start a career as a BA and expect that it will be handy to know SQL, which is fine, but I haven't been able to find anything out there that simulate the kind of scenarios and tasks SQL would be used in. I suppose your site is a step closer to that.

minhaz23 10y ago
Hows the step into BA going for ya? What kind of things besides SQL do you have to learn?
- MistahKoala 10y ago
  Not great! Plenty of vacancies for BAs and junior BAs alike, but they all stipulate experience. I've been looking for graduate BA vacancies, but - outside of London - they're few and far between. A few BA roles are also quite heavy on the numerate side of things, which I have to cast aside. Aside from SQL, I've got UML and Visio on my to-do list. There's also the BABOK reference, but it sounds like it's something that only really starts to make sense when you have something to apply it to and observe.

rorykoehler 10y ago

This looks great. Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.

AlisdairO 10y ago
No worries - hope you find it useful.

mlinksva 10y ago

I worked through many of these when discussed here 7 months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12022953 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12022953 ... really enjoyable, great refresher, and learned some things I never knew before.

AlisdairO 10y ago
Thanks :-)

AlexAMEEE 10y ago

You could also add some ads, I'd gladly deactivate my adblocker, a site that produces so much value should get something in return. Great site, thanks