A basic understanding of SQL is one of the most useful skills a software Engineer can have. Sooner or later, you will get to face a database system that require

A basic understanding of SQL is one of the most useful skills a software Engineer can have. Sooner or later, you will get to face a database system that requires it, either for actual application development or for data mining. Even if you don't use it all that often, I think that every developer should get some exposure to Functional, Logic and Declarative languages - and SQL is a decent way to learn more about the "declarative way of thinking", even if it isn't used in a fully declarative fashion in many practical situations.