SQL Engineering Handbook

A production-style SQL curriculum — from your first SELECT to analytics engineering, interview prep, and real business case studies.

Who It's For · Why Different · Roadmap · Structure · Quick Start · Docs · Contributing · FAQ

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Who This Is For

If you're an aspiring or practicing Data Analyst or Analytics Engineer who wants a structured path from SQL fundamentals to real business analytics — not another disconnected list of .sql files — this handbook is built for you.

Honest status: Modules 00–09 (Foundations → Date Functions) are complete and stable today. Modules 10–20, plus datasets/, projects/, exercises/, and cheatsheets/, are actively being built module by module. Live status always lives in ROADMAP.md — this README won't claim more than what's actually shipped.

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What Makes It Different

	Typical SQL repo	SQL Engineering Handbook
🗄️ Data	One generic sample table	Real-world-style datasets across HR, e-commerce, sales, finance, healthcare
📖 Context	Bare query, no explanation	Business problem stated before every solution
⚠️ Failure modes	Rarely documented	Common mistakes called out per pattern
🎯 Interview angle	Absent	Dedicated interview-prep module + question bank
📅 Progress	Static snapshot	Public roadmap, versioned via CHANGELOG.md
🤝 Contribution	Solo repo	Structured community process via CONTRIBUTING.md

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Feature Highlights

🏗️ Production SQL Every completed module follows one format: business context → SQL solution → explanation → common mistakes → interview follow-ups → practice challenge.	📊 Real Datasets Practice is built around real-world-style datasets (HR, e-commerce, sales, finance, healthcare) instead of one toy table, so the SQL transfers directly to a job.	🎯 Interview Ready 17_SQL_INTERVIEW_QUESTIONS/ and exercises/interview/ target the questions that come up most. Until they ship, 08_WINDOW_BUSINESS_CASES/ is the closest match.
🧠 Analytics Engineering Modules progress from syntax → analytical SQL (windows, CTEs) → engineering concerns (views, indexes, query optimization).	🧪 Exercises & Projects exercises/ (beginner → interview) and projects/ (HR analytics, e-commerce, pizza sales, Olist, NagpurLens) turn concepts into a portfolio.	📚 Documentation Quality Architecture, style guide, roadmap, and changelog are first-class files — not afterthoughts — so the repo stays maintainable as it grows.

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Learning Roadmap

flowchart LR
    subgraph Foundations
    A[00 Sample Database] --> B[01 Fundamentals]
    B --> C[02 Aggregations]
    C --> D[03 Joins]
    end
    subgraph Core_SQL[Core SQL]
    D --> E[04 CASE WHEN]
    E --> F[05 Subqueries]
    F --> G[06 CTEs]
    end
    subgraph Analytical_SQL[Analytical SQL]
    G --> H[07 Window Functions]
    H --> I[08 Window Business Cases]
    I --> J[09 Date Functions]
    end
    subgraph Engineering_SQL[Engineering SQL]
    J --> K[10-13 Strings, Nulls, Advanced Aggs, Set Ops]
    K --> L[14-16 Views, Indexes, Query Optimization]
    end
    subgraph Career_Ready[Career Ready]
    L --> M[17 Interview Questions]
    M --> N[18 Business Case Studies]
    N --> O[19 Projects]
    O --> P[20 Cheatsheet]
    end

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Full module-by-module status

#	Module	Status
00	Sample Database	✅ Complete
01	Fundamentals	✅ Complete
02	Aggregations	✅ Complete
03	Joins	✅ Complete
04	CASE WHEN	✅ Complete
05	Subqueries	✅ Complete
06	CTEs	✅ Complete
07	Window Functions	✅ Complete
08	Window Function Business Cases	✅ Complete
09	Date Functions	✅ Complete
10	String Functions	✅ Complete
11	NULL Handling & Data Cleaning	✅️ Complete
12	Advanced Aggregations	✅️ Complete
13	Set Operators	✅️ Complete
14	Views	🔄 In Progress
15	Indexes	🔄 In Progress
16	Query Optimization	🔄 In Progress
17	SQL Interview Questions	🔄 In Progress
18	SQL Business Case Studies	🔄 In Progress
19	SQL Projects	🔄 In Progress
20	SQL Cheatsheet	🔄 In Progress

Legend: ✅ Complete  ·  🔄 In Progress  ·  📋 Planned

Live tracking always in ROADMAP.md.

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Repository Structure

SQL-Engineering-Handbook/
│
├── README.md                          You are here
├── ROADMAP.md                         Live module-by-module progress
├── CHANGELOG.md                       Version history
├── ARCHITECTURE.md                    Why the repo is organized this way
├── STYLE_GUIDE.md                     Format every module/query follows
├── CONTRIBUTING.md                    How to contribute
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md                 Community standards
├── SECURITY.md                        How to report security concerns
├── FAQ.md                             Common questions
├── LICENSE                            MIT
│
├── .github/                           Issue/PR templates, CI workflows, CODEOWNERS
│   ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
│   ├── workflows/
│   ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
│   └── CODEOWNERS
│
├── assets/                            Banners, diagrams, screenshots, logos
│   ├── banners/
│   ├── diagrams/
│   ├── screenshots/
│   ├── logos/
│   └── gifs/
│
├── datasets/                          Real-world practice datasets
│   ├── employee_management/
│   ├── ecommerce/
│   ├── sales/
│   ├── finance/
│   ├── healthcare/
│   └── nagpurlens/
│
├── resources/                         Curated external learning material
│   ├── books.md
│   ├── blogs.md
│   ├── documentation.md
│   ├── youtube.md
│   └── interview-resources.md
│
├── cheatsheets/                        Quick-reference syntax guides
│   ├── joins/
│   ├── ctes/
│   ├── windows/
│   ├── dates/
│   ├── strings/
│   └── aggregation/
│
├── exercises/                          Practice problems by difficulty
│   ├── beginner/
│   ├── intermediate/
│   ├── advanced/
│   └── interview/
│
├── projects/                           End-to-end portfolio projects
│   ├── hr-analytics/
│   ├── ecommerce/
│   ├── pizza-sales/
│   ├── olist/
│   └── nagpurlens/
│
├── 00_SAMPLE_DATABASE/                 ✅ Practice schema + seed data
├── 01_FUNDAMENTALS/                    ✅ SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, LIMIT
├── 02_AGGREGATIONS/                    ✅ GROUP BY, HAVING, aggregate functions
├── 03_JOINS/                           ✅ Inner, Left, Right, Full, Cross
├── 04_CASE_WHEN/                       ✅ Conditional logic & transforms
├── 05_SUBQUERIES/                      ✅ Scalar, inline, correlated
├── 06_CTEs/                            ✅ Common Table Expressions & recursion
├── 07_WINDOW_FUNCTIONS/                ✅ ROW_NUMBER, RANK, LAG/LEAD
├── 08_WINDOW_BUSINESS_CASES/           ✅ Applied window function scenarios
├── 09_DATE_FUNCTIONS/                  ✅ Date arithmetic, formatting, ranges
├── 10_STRING_FUNCTIONS/                🔄 In progress
├── 11_NULL_HANDLING_AND_DATA_CLEANING/ 🔄 In progress
├── 12_ADVANCED_AGGREGATIONS/           🔄 In progress
├── 13_SET_OPERATORS/                   🔄 In progress
├── 14_VIEWS/                           🔄 In progress
├── 15_INDEXES/                         🔄 In progress
├── 16_QUERY_OPTIMIZATION/              🔄 In progress
├── 17_SQL_INTERVIEW_QUESTIONS/         🔄 In progress
├── 18_SQL_BUSINESS_CASE_STUDIES/       🔄 In progress
├── 19_SQL_PROJECTS/                    🔄 In progress
└── 20_SQL_CHEATSHEET/                  🔄 In progress

Every numbered module is self-contained: read its own README, run its queries against the relevant dataset, then attempt the practice challenge at the end. See ARCHITECTURE.md for the reasoning behind this layout.

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Quick Start

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/theammarngp-makes/SQL-Engineering-Handbook.git
cd SQL-Engineering-Handbook

# 2. Load a practice dataset (start with the core sample database)
mysql -u root -p < 00_SAMPLE_DATABASE/schema.sql

# 3. Start with Fundamentals, or jump to any completed module
cd 01_FUNDAMENTALS

Database: MySQL 8.0+. Queries are ANSI-standard where possible, with MySQL-specific notes called out — most run on PostgreSQL with minor syntax changes.

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Learning Tracks

📘 Sequential learner — go module by module

Work straight through 00_SAMPLE_DATABASE → 09_DATE_FUNCTIONS (currently complete), then continue into 10–20 as they release. No prior SQL knowledge assumed.

🎯 Interview sprint — targeted prep

Once live, 17_SQL_INTERVIEW_QUESTIONS/ and exercises/interview/ will be the fastest path. Until then, 07_WINDOW_FUNCTIONS/ and 08_WINDOW_BUSINESS_CASES/ cover the most commonly tested interview topic.

📚 Desk reference — search when you need a pattern

Bookmark the repo and jump directly to the numbered module matching the syntax you need on the job.

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Sample Query

Salary ranking with window functions (from 07_WINDOW_FUNCTIONS/)

SELECT
    emp_id,
    emp_name,
    salary,
    RANK() OVER (ORDER BY salary DESC) AS salary_rank,
    LAG(salary) OVER (ORDER BY salary DESC) AS prev_salary
FROM employees;

Every completed module follows this format: business context → SQL solution → explanation → common mistakes → interview follow-ups → practice challenge.

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Documentation Hub

Doc	Purpose
ROADMAP.md	Live module-by-module progress and what's next
ARCHITECTURE.md	How the repo, datasets, and modules are structured and why
STYLE_GUIDE.md	Format every module and query follows
CHANGELOG.md	Version history of the handbook
FAQ.md	Common questions about setup and usage
CONTRIBUTING.md	How to contribute
SECURITY.md	How to report security concerns
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md	Community standards

GitHub features: Issues for bugs and requests · Discussions for questions about a specific query or module.

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Contributing

This project is being built module by module, and contributions are genuinely welcome — new queries, dataset additions, exercises, corrections, or documentation improvements.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Follow the format in STYLE_GUIDE.md
4. Open a pull request using the template in .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

Full standards live in CONTRIBUTING.md. Please review the CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md before participating.

• 🐛 Found a bug? Open an issue
• 💬 Question about a query? Start a Discussion
• 🔐 Security concern? See SECURITY.md

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FAQ

Is this finished? No — and it says so on purpose. Modules 00–09 are complete and stable. 10–20, plus datasets, exercises, projects, and cheatsheets, are actively being built. Check ROADMAP.md for live status.

Do I need MySQL specifically? Queries are ANSI-standard where possible, with MySQL-specific notes called out. Most run on PostgreSQL with minor syntax changes.

Is this beginner-friendly? Yes — start at 01_FUNDAMENTALS/. It assumes no prior SQL knowledge.

Can I use this for interview prep only? That's the goal of 17_SQL_INTERVIEW_QUESTIONS/ and exercises/interview/ once live; until then, 08_WINDOW_BUSINESS_CASES/ is the closest match.

More in FAQ.md.

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License

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Author

Mohammad Ammar Aspiring Data Analyst · SQL Enthusiast · Data Storyteller

LinkedIn · GitHub

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This handbook is built in public and updated regularly. If it's useful to you, starring the repo helps more learners find it — and following along tracks its progress from here to a full 21-module release.