What’s the Best Way to Learn SQL and NoSQL?

I worked with a beer festival database and also queried Formula 1 race results on MongoDB. Most of my learning came from hands-on experience and a lot of Googling to solve problems as they came up.

Microsoft Access was my gateway. Building queries with its graphical designer was a game-changer before I learned to code SQL manually. Now I feel much more comfortable coding by hand.

I learned about primary and foreign keys in college, which had me confused for a while. A primary key is a unique identifier for a column, like a CourseID in a school database. A foreign key in another table points to these unique identifiers, keeping things organized and ensuring data integrity.

I learned MySQL in school and used resources like SQLBolt and W3Schools for practice. I also played around with PostgreSQL's movie rental sample database to learn about tables and queries.

I was introduced to the relational model in university, which made learning SQL feel more like syntax for me. Still, I often doubt my joins and find that a lot of my queries never end up being used by clients.

I picked up SQL from my dad, who used it in his work. I learned the basics like INSERT and SELECT just to help him out with small tasks. It's funny reflecting on how those moments led to my current interest in databases!

I really got my SQL skills from school, but my NoSQL knowledge grew on the job. Working on actual projects has helped me a lot more than just memorizing syntax.