SQL: Read a Database like an Expert

What would you do if you were presented with an unfamiliar database and no documentation?

When you have completed this course you will be able to answer this question. You will have a plan, a method and several techniques you can use. This course is for:

• Analysts
• Aspiring System or Database Designers
• Developers.

You will learn how to find your way around a database quickly and efficiently. You can become the “go to” person in your specialisation simply by being able to “read a database like a book”. You become the person with the map, or the book of instructions!

• If you are an analyst this course will enable you to write better queries more quickly, and you will learn how the database influences what the system can do.
• If you are moving into database design, learning to “read” will allow you to use existing databases as a resource which you can understand, criticise and copy.
• As a developer this course shows you how to use the database as documentation for the system it supports.

I wrote this course as an extended tutorial. I started with one of Microsoft’s example databases and documented the method I use as I went through it. Although I used SQL Server and the associated tools, the method is applicable to most SQL databases. We will go through the same journey together and you will learn what I discovered along the way. You can choose to repeat what I do yourself to gain experience with the technique, or you can choose simply to observe.

Come along! Sign up! There are some surprises and a lot of fun to be had!