Did You Know LearnSQL.com Has Free SQL Courses?

Who doesn't like getting something for free? Each month, we give LearnSQL.com users a bit of help in their learning journey – a free, fully interactive SQL course.

Since April, we have been giving our users the opportunity to learn SQL for free. Each month, we choose one of our SQL courses and give you full access to it for that month – completely free of charge! Cool, right?

In this article, we’ll review the free LearnSQL.com courses we’ve featured so far and why you should keep following our platform. We promise there will be more free SQL courses in the future!

Six LearnSQL Courses We’ve Given Away So Far

To get a free course, users just log into their LearnSQL account (or create a new account). They get immediate access to the entire content of that month’s featured SQL course, without any marketing hoaxes or additional fees. Simple and free!

1. April - SQL Window Functions

We started spring with a great SQL course about window functions. This was our April 2020 Course of the Month, free all month long. It consists of over 200 interactive exercises that not only teach you what window functions are but also demonstrate how to use them in real life.

Window functions allow you to compute advanced statistics in one simple SQL query. Their most common uses include creating rankings, performing time series analysis, and calculating running totals, averages, etc. There are three kinds of window functions:

• Aggregate functions (SUM(), COUNT(), MAX(), AVG()).
• Ranking functions (RANK(), ROW_NUMBER(), NTILE()).
• Positional functions (LEAD(), LAG(), FIRST_VALUE(), LAST_VALUE()).

This course is primarily for analysts; every analyst should know SQL window functions. Are you working with time-series, financial, sales, marketing, or stock data? This is the course for you. You’ll learn ways to work faster and more efficiently.

Do you want to know more? Read what Agnieszka Kozubek-Krycuń, Chief Content Officer at Vertabelo told me about window functions. Also read why you should learn window functions.

2. May - Creating Basic SQL Reports

Creating Basic SQL Reports was our course of the month for May 2020. This one focuses on the GROUP BY clause. GROUP BY is necessary to calculate various statistics in SQL: totals, averages, counts, and so on. It is the basis of all SQL business reporting. Our course gives users the opportunity to practice using GROUP BY. We estimate that it takes about 10 hours to complete the 97 exercises it contains.

By completing our course, you have the chance to learn how to create complex reports based on your own classifications. You also discover how to use multiple GROUP BY clauses in one query. If this sounds hard, don’t despair. The interactive exercises and good explanations make it easy.

Why learn SQL reporting? Because it's pure profit. You can make better reports and control your finances, stock levels, or orders. Everything can be arranged and compared, and understanding data gives you an advantage over the competition. You're not in the dark. You can adapt to the market, make more precise decisions, and create data-based business strategies.

The course is part of the SQL Reporting track. Together with Revenue Trend Analysis in SQL, it’s part of an amazing combo for all entrepreneurs and business experts who want to get even more out of their data.

Interested in learning more? Read the article on how to start writing SQL reports. You can also check out The Ultimate Tutorial for Business Professionals and our interview with Agnieszka about the May course of the month.

3. June - SQL Practice Set

This turned out to be a huge hit. Thousands of people wanted to do this course, and in June they could do it for free. It's great, interactive, and focuses on what everyone needs – SQL practice.

The course includes 88 exercises based on real scenarios. It is divided into five parts. Each begins with a reminder of the topic discussed. After a short introduction, it's time for the exercises. Topics covered in the course include SELECTing from one table (practicing the WHERE clause), aggregating and grouping data (GROUP BY), JOINing tables, and writing subqueries.

The last part brings it all together with a set of tasks that forces you to combine knowledge from different areas of SQL.

The course is perfect for all those who need SQL practice and do not want to rely on random tasks they have to scrape off the Internet. It’s also ideal for anyone who doesn't want to install anything on their computer; all you need is an Internet connection and a web browser.

Are you a beginning or intermediate SQl user? Do you want to gain experience and test your knowledge? Find out what you’re good at and what you still need to work on. The SQL Practice Set course is a perfectly tailored group of interactive exercises that will help you become a SQL master.

Want to read more about this course? Check out this interview with its creator or explore our selection of 12 Ways to Practice SQL Online.

4. July - PostGIS

In July, we chose something completely different. We gave our users free access to our PostGIS course. Yes, an advanced SQL course for free!

PostGIS is the geospatial extension of the PostgreSQL database. It enables geographic data storing and processing in PostgreSQL. Geographic datasets are usually enormous, often over a dozen terabytes in size. PostGIS facilitates the efficient storage and processing of these large data sets and includes spatial indices specifically designed for geographical data. An operation that takes seconds in PostGIS may take hours without it; some operations may not be completed at all.

This supercool course gives you 148 logically-arranged interactive exercises. You will learn to work with geographic data types and their functions. We estimate that it takes about 12 hours to complete the course.

Want to learn PostGIS? You could read some books or watch some YouTube tutorials, but completing our course is a much better idea. We haven't found another online PostGIS course that’s as complete and interactive.

To learn more, read our article on the July SQL Course of the Month. Do you want to start using PostGIS at work? See how to install and configure PostgreSQL in Windows 10 in 5 minutes. It's easy if you use the guide.

5. August - SQL Recursive Queries

In August, users had a chance to get one of our most difficult and advanced SQL courses for free. Yup, it’s Recursive Queries – the course that delves into CTEs!

Common Table Expressions (CTEs) make long and complex SQL queries more readable. They make it easy for you to define a temporary named result set and use it in your query. Even very complex SQL queries are easier to process. It’s also easier to control long and demanding queries with CTEs.

Did you know? Common Table Expressions are often called WITH queries because they begin with the WITH keyword.

During the Recursive Queries course, you’ll discover how to:

• Understand and use basic Common Table Expressions.
• Split long SQL queries with simple and nested CTEs.
• Deploy recursive CTEs.
• Write recursive CTEs that traverse a hierarchical data model.

If you want to learn more about this course, read the August SQL Course of the Month interview. You can also start your path to become a master of recursive queries by reading the article How to Organize SQL Queries with CTEs. Just be warned: This course is not for complete newbies. You must already know the basics of SQL.

6. September - Analyzing Revenue Trends in SQL

Our most recent SQL Course of the Month is Analyzing Revenue Trends in SQL. If you are reading this text and it is September, you still have the chance to do this course for free - no fooling and no fees. Just log in and start solving the tasks.

In the autumn, most of us start to summarize our business activities and prepare for the last quarter of the year. That’s why we decided to return to the subject of SQL reports for this month. It’s useful to every entrepreneur and businessperson. It does not matter if you run a warehouse, shop, brokerage firm, advertising agency, or call center – you want your company to generate lots of revenue. And you also want to analyze your company’s data. Learn how to observe market trends and create SQL reports that will help you make strategic decisions for your business.

This course is based on real-world scenarios where SQL comes in handy. It’s ideal for managers, analysts, data science beginners, IT students, and anyone who uses data to generate reports.

If you want more info, read the latest SQL Course of the Month interview. Or just click here and start learning SQL reports for free (as long as it's September 2020, that is). Instead of depending on other people’s reports, start relying on your own data!

What Will Be Our Next Free LearnSQL Course?

Now you know what’s been free on the LearnSQL.com platform in recent months. If you watched our website closely, you’ve had six free learning opportunities. And we promise you’ll have more.

Maybe you would like a specific course to be free? Let us know in the comments. Be vigilant, subscribe to our newsletter, and read our blog – you might see your course coming up soon!