10 Best SQL Books for Beginners in 2024
SQL is about building tables. Perhaps not the kind of tables depicted in the image above. Photo by GEORGE DESIPRIS on Unsplash
Structured Query Language (SQL) has been around for half of a century and yet it is still the most popular query language designed for communicating with databases. As a query language, SQL is simple and uses few words. It is a minimal language, which credits the language’s longevity.
SQL was developed by IBM in the early 1970s. Its ability to execute queries such as retrieve, insert, update, and delete was groundbreaking and influencial to future technologies such as RESTful APIs and CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete).
In this article, I’m going to talk about a handful of fantastic SQL books. With these books, you can learn SQL quickly and become an indispensable programmer or data analyst.
Why Learn SQL?
Here are the reasons you may be interested in learning SQL:
Become a Data Analyst: Data analysts can use SQL to find trends, draw conclusions, and report insights about the information they contain. For more on becoming a data analyst, find these best books for data analysts.
Increasing job opportunities: The job market for data analysts and consultants is growing. The world continues to store more data and we continue to need people to organize it.
Do what matters: As a programmer or someone in any profession, you can learn to gather and store your own data efficiently and make decisions that matter to your life.
Become Indespensible: Unlike other skills that are hot and then are not, SQL is never out of style. Once you learn SQL, you can apply the principles you learn for the rest of your career.
SQL has also influenced other languages such as PHP and GraphQL. You can find books on PHP and books on GraphQL, too.
What Makes the Best SQL Books?
When looking for the best books to learn SQL, you might wonder about the criteria we use to judge these books. After all, many placed on the internet are spinning these lists from information readily available on the internet.
To form this list, I actually look inside each book and assess its writing style and structure.
Here are our criteria to select books on :
It must have a structured, clear, and logical progression of topics.
The book is concise and easy to understand.
Contain exercises, examples, and practice problems for hands-on experience.
Engaging and able to hold the attention of readers.
The book should have a clear layout and must be friendly toward self-taught programmers.
As bonus points, the book incorporates some fun and conversational style to keep engagement.
The Best SQL Books
See below for a handful of the best books you can use to learn SQL fundamentals quickly and effectively:
1. Best Book for Learning Key Concepts: Learning SQL
There are plenty of books out there that treat you like a dummy, idiot, or some other flavor of simpleton, but these books tend to just skim the surface. […] This book strives to find the middle ground, starting with some background of the SQL language, moving through the basics, and then progressing into some of the more advanced features that will allow you to really shine.
Learning SQL: Generate, Manipulate, and Retrieve Data by Alan Beaulieu is a March 2020 release that teaches how to quickly pick up SQL basics and powerful, more advanced topics.
This book isolates key concepts in each chapter, illustrating them with diagrams and examples.
With this book, you can learn to…
Move swiftly through basics
Use data statements
Create database objects
Understand how datasets work with queries
Manipulate data with conditional logic and functions
This nearly-400 page SQL book includes the following 18 chapters:
Chapter 1: A Little Background — Includes overview of databases, database terminology, SQL terminology, SQL examples, and more.
Chapter 2: Creating And Populating A Database — Includes creating a MySQL database, using the command-line tool, MySQL data types, data types, table creation, as well as inserting, updating, and deleting data and more.
Chapter 3: Query Primer — Includes query mechanics and clauses, column aliases, removing duplicates, defining table aliases, and more.
Chapter 4: Filtering — Includes condition evaluation, using parenthesis, using the not operator, condition types, equality conditions, range conditions, membership conditions, matching conditions, null, and more.
Chapter 5: Querying Multiple Tables — includes concepts on the Cartesian Product, joins, using subqueries as tables, using the same table twice, and more.
Chapter 6: Working With Sets — includes set operators like union, intercept, except, and more.
Chapter 7: Data Generation, Manipulation, And Conversion — Includes working with strings, performing arithmetic functions, controlling number precision, handling signed data, working with temporal data, and more.
Chapter 8: Grouping And Aggregates — includes grouping concepts, aggregate functions, and more.
Chapter 9: Subqueries — includes an overview of subqueries, subquery types, and more.
Chapter 10: Joins Revisited — includes information about outer joins, cross joins, natural joins, and more.
Chapter 11: Conditional Logic — includes an overview of conditional logic such as the case expression, result set transformations, and more.
Chapter 12: Transactions — includes information about locking and starting transactions.
Chapter 13: Indexes And Constraints — includes information about indexes such as index creation, index types, constraints, and more.
Chapter 14: Views — includes an overview of views, data security, data aggregation, updating views, and more.
Chapter 15: Metadata — includes the information_schema, how to work with metadata, deployment verification, and more.
Chapter 16: Analytic Functions — includes data windows, localized sorting, ranking, ranking functions, and more.
Chapter 17: Working With Large Databases — includes information on partitioning, partitioning concepts, table partitioning, index partitioning, and more.
Chapter 18: SQL And Big Data — includes an introduction to Apache Drill and how to query using Drill.
2. Best Book for Hands-On Learning: Practical SQL, 2nd Edition
Practical SQL is for people who encounter data in their everyday lives and want to learn how to analyze and transform it. To this end, I discuss real-world data and scenarios, such as U.S. Census demographics, crime statistics, and data about taxi rides in New York City.
Practical SQL: A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data, 2nd Edition by Anthony DeBarros is written in a conversational, friendly style. The book is intended for people who are curious about how to analyze data and have an interest in a career in data analysis. The book is called practical SQL for its real-world examples and applications.
The book is hands-on and will have you creating a database within the first pages of the first chapter.
With this book, you can learn to…
Create databases and related tables using your own data
Aggregate, sort, and filter data to find patterns
Use functions for basic math and advanced statistical operations
Identify errors in data and clean them up
Analyze spatial data with a geographic information system (PostGIS)
Create advanced queries and automate tasks
This updated second edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect the latest in SQL features, including additional advanced query techniques for wrangling data. This edition also has two new chapters: an expanded set of instructions on for setting up your system plus a chapter on using PostgreSQL with the popular JSON data interchange format.
Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Coding Environment
Chapter 2: Creating Your First Database and Table
Chapter 3: Beginning Data Exploration with SELECT
Chapter 4: Understanding Data Types
Chapter 5: Importing and Exporting Data
Chapter 6: Basic Math and Stats with SQL
Chapter 7: Joining Tables in a Relational Database
Chapter 8: Table Design That Works for You
Chapter 9: Extracting Information by Grouping and Summarizing
Chapter 10: Inspecting and Modifying Data
Chapter 11: Statistical Functions in SQL
Chapter 12: Working with Dates and Times
Chapter 13: Advanced Query Techniques
Chapter 14: Mining Text to Find Meaningful Data
Chapter 15: Analyzing Spatial Data with PostGIS
Chapter 16: Working with JSON Data
Chapter 17: Saving Time with Views, Functions, and Triggers
Chapter 18: Using PostgreSQL from the Command Line
Chapter 19: Maintaining Your Database
Chapter 20: Telling Your Data’s Story
3. Best Book for Data Analysts: SQL for Data Analytics
SQL for Data Analytics covers everything you need to progress from simply knowing basic SQL to telling stories and identifying trends in data.
SQL for Data Analytics: Perform fast and efficient data analysis with the power of SQL is by Upon Malic, Matt Goldwasser, and more authors. The book is written in a simple, clean style that teaches you not only how to write SQL queries, but how to think like a data analyst using diagrams and examples.
With this book, you can learn to…
Analyze your data with statistical techniques
Write SQL queries and subqueries
Import and export data
Use special SQL functions and clauses
Use your SQL pipelines with other technologies for analytics
Use advanced analytic techniques like geospatial techniques and text analysis
This 386-page book includes the following 9 chapters:
Chapter 1: Understanding And Describing Data
Chapter 2: The Basics Of SQL For Analytics
Chapter 3: SQL For Data Preparation
Chapter 4: Aggregate Functions For Data Analytics
Chapter 5: Window Functions For Data Analysis
Chapter 6: Importing And Exporting Data
Chapter 7: Analytics Using Complex Data Types
More books you may like:
4. Best Book for Completionists: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals
You might ask, “Who is a mere mortal? Me?” The answer is not simple. When I started to write this book, I thought was an expert in the database language called SQL. Along the way, I discovered I am a mere mortal, too, in several areas. I understood a few specific implementations of SQL very well, but I unraveled many of the complex intricacies of the language as I studied how it is used in many commercial products.
SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL by John Viescas is in its 4th edition, with the latest release published in 2018. This massive textbook is highly respected in the programming field and worth owning as a SQL professional.
The book defines “mere mortals” — the target audience — as anyone who has to use a database system that supports SQL: people who know a little or a lot and people who need to solve problems using SQL.
With this book, you can learn to…
Learn about relational databases and sound database structure
Use SQL basics such as SELECT statements, expressions, and sorting
Grouping data with clauses
Grouping data with join operators
Modifying data sets with statements
Use advance queries
Use advanced grouping keywords
Use window functions
This 960-page book includes the following 6 parts with 22 chapters:
Part 1: Relational Databases and SQL
Part 2: SQL Basics
Part 3: Working with Multiple Tables
Part 4: Summarizing and Grouping Data
Part 5: Modifying Sets of Data
Part 6: Introduction to Solving Tough Problems
5. Best Quick-Start Book: SQL in 10 Minutes
I had been teaching Web application development for several years, and students were constantly asking for SQL book recommendations. There are lots of SQL books out there. Some are actually very good. But they all have one thing in common: for most users they teach just too much information.
SQL in 10 Minutes, Sams Teach Yourself by Ben Forta is not exactly just 10 minutes of learning. The 5th edition title is a 2020 Pearson publication. With this book, the claim is that each exercise or lesson can be completed in less than 10 minutes. This popular book has had over half-a-million readers and works to provide a “classroom experience” to SQL learners who are complete beginners and who want to get the most out of SQL.
I highly respect books that respect your time, as this book does. The lessons are well chunked into small, actionable pieces and are highly skimmable.
With this book, you can do each of the following in less than 10 minutes:
Use SQL statements
Use multiple clauses and operators
Sort, retrieve, and format data
Use filtering techniques
Summarize data with aggregate functions
Use join operators
Insert, update, and delete data
Alter and create database tables
Use views and more
This 256-page book is organized into 10-minute lessons rather than chapters. The book contains the following 22 lessons:
Lesson 1: Understanding SQL
Lesson 2: Retrieving Data
Lesson 3: Sorting Retrieved Data
Lesson 4: Filtering Data
Lesson 5: Advanced Data Filtering
Lesson 6: Using Wildcard Filtering
Lesson 7: Creating Calculated Fields
Lesson 8: Using Data Manipulation Functions
Lesson 9: Summarizing Data
Lesson 10: Grouping Data
Lesson 11: Working With Subqueries
Lesson 12: Joining Tables
Lesson 13: Creating Advanced Joins
Lesson 14: Combining Queries
Lesson 15: Inserting Data
Lesson 16: Updating And Deleting Data
Lesson 17: Creating And Manipulating Tables
Lesson 18: Using Views
Lesson 19: Working With Stored Procedures
Lesson 20: Managing Transaction Processing
Lesson 21: Using Cursors
Lesson 22: Understanding Advanced SQL Features
6. Best Budget-Friendly Book: SQL QuickStart Guide
If I have learned anything from both my academic and professional wanderings, it is this: there is a much more practical approach to becoming an invaluable resource[. …I have distilled] all the lessons that I have learned into a simple, practical, hands-on approach to SQL[.]
SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data with SQL by Walter Shields is a self-published, Kindle book that teaches the nuts and bolts of SQL without skimping on content.
This book is designed to be “sympathetic to our busy lives and schedules.” It is for “readers who already possess a basic or even advanced understanding of SQL.” It is a basic toolkit — where you can easily jump in and out as you need.
This 333-page book includes the following 10 simple chapters:
Chapter 1: Understanding Database Structure
Chapter 2: SQL Tools and Strategies
Chapter 3: Exploring a Database in SQlite
Chapter 4: Getting Started with Queries
Chapter 5: Turning Data into Information
Chapter 6: Working with Multiple Tables
Chapter 7: Using Functions
Chapter 8: Subqueries
Chapter 9: Views
Chapter 10: Data Manipulation Language (DML)
The book is packed with diagrams and examples. The writing style feels embued with the unique voice of the author, which can be verbose or unpolished at times.
Being a self-published book, it may not have been edited as thoroughly. However, the book was made with love and shows attention to detail and care.
For the price, this book is a fantastic introduction to SQL.
7. Best Book for Academics: Learn SQL Database Programming
This book is for business analysts, SQL developers, database administrators, and students learning SQL. If you want to learn how to query and manipulate SQL data for database administration tasks or to simply extract and organize relevant data for analysis, you'll find this book useful.
Learn SQL Database Programming: Query and manipulate databases from popular database servers using SQL by Josephine Bush is a well-structured, thorough textbook. It defines each term aptly and succinctly. It has a no-nonsense, formal style with good formatting and chunking: paragraphs are not overly verbose, formatting is consistent, and diagrams frequently break up the text.
I see this textbook being used in a college classroom as a comprehensive, thorough book on the topic.
There is not much fun in this book. Examples do not add much curiosity. For example:
The example table above has standard names, ID, and birth year. To make it more interesting, there could have been a story with recognizable names (for example, Sherlock and Watson) rather than ‘Jim Jones’ and ‘Joe Smith’ — names that say nothing.
This 564-page book includes the following 15 chapters across five sections:
Section 1: Database Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Introduction to Relational Database Management Systems
Chapter 2: Installing and Using MySQL Workbench
Chapter 3: Understanding Data Types
Chapter 4: Designing and Creating a Database
Chapter 5: Importing and Exporting Data
Section 2: Basic SQL Querying
Chapter 6: Querying a Single Table
Chapter 7: Querying Multiple Tables
Chapter 8: Modifying Data and Table Structures
Section 3: Advanced SQL Querying
Chapter 9: Working with Expressions
Chapter 10: Grouping and Summarizing Data
Chapter 11: Advanced Querying Techniques
Chapter 12: Programmable Objects
Section 4: Presenting Your Findings
Chapter 13: Exploring and Processing Your Data
Chapter 14: Telling a Story with Your Data
Chapter 15: Best Practices for Designing and Querying
8. Best Books for Beginner Coders: Python, Java, SQL & JavaScript: The Ultimate Crash Course for Beginners
Python, Java, SQL & JavaScript: The Ultimate Crash Course for Beginners by Philip Robbins provides 4 programming languages: Python, Java, SQL & JavaScript. You’ll learn the fundamentals and then move on to the advanced concepts.
One of the standout features of this book is its emphasis on breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts. There are plenty of examples and exercises to enhance your understanding and competence.
Here’s what you’ll get from the book:
A complete Python overview, from basic syntax to advanced data structures, to set the foundations to automate tasks and analyze data
How to write clean and efficient code
13 simple but effective tips to avoid common pitfalls and mistakes
Java Programming, from basic concepts to advanced ones like functional programming, modules and annotations
How to efficiently query, update, and manage data with SQL to make informed decisions based on large volumes of data
How to bring websites to life with JavaScript, from basic scripts to complex front-end development with libraries and frameworks
Practical applications of each programming language through real-world projects and examples
Countless exercises and hands-on projects
How to troubleshoot and debug your code
The impostor syndrome, what it is and how to overcome it to navigate the tech industry
This is a great book for beginners that covers everything from setup to core principles. It's easy to follow and has thorough explanations. Each section is solely devoted to explaining each of the programs, their history, how and when to use each one, and a lot more. If you want a great overview of these four, this book for you!
9. Best Book for Data Engineers: SQL Pocket Guide: A Guide to SQL Usage 4th Edition
SQL Pocket Guide: A Guide to SQL Usage 4th Edition by Alice Zhao teaches how database management systems implement SQL syntax for both querying and making changes to a database. You'll find details on data types and conversions, regular expression syntax, window functions, pivoting and unpivoting, and more.
This book packs a ton of valuable SQL knowledge into an easy, digestible format. It gives illustrated examples and codes to show you the syntax.
In this updated edition, the author describes how these database management systems implement SQL syntax for both querying and making changes to a database. The book is divided into ten chapters and includes the following topics:
Chapter 1 covers the SQL Crash Course
Chapter 2 talks about where can you write SQL Code
Chapter 3 covers the SQL Language
Chapter 4 covers Querying Basics
Chapter 5 talks about Creating, Updating, and Deleting
Chapter 6 covers Data Types
Chapter 7 covers Operators and Functions
Chapter 8 talks about Advanced Querying Concepts
Chapter 9 talks about working with Multiple Tables and Queries
Chapter 10 talks about finding the Rows Containing Duplicate Values, selecting Rows with the Max Value for Another Column, finding all Tables Containing a Specific Column Name and more!
The best thing about this book is its pocket size. So, you can easily carry it everywhere.
If SQL plays a large supporting role in your job, then this is the perfect pocket guide for you.
10. Best Books for Perfectionists: SQL: 3 books 1 - The Ultimate Beginner, Intermediate & Expert Guides To Master SQL Programming
SQL: 3 books 1 - The Ultimate Beginner, Intermediate & Expert Guides To Master SQL Programming by Mark Reed teaches you SQL in an easy step-by-step approach. You will study theory and how to put it into practice.
In this book, you’ll find a simple instruction manual that brings theory and solid practical experience. It teaches all the essential tools and best strategies to learn SQL for complete beginners and advanced coders.
The 3 books are full of detailed information but written in a simple and understandable way. The text is easy to read, with a clear and supportive tone.
Some of the topics cocered in SQL: The Ultimate Beginners Guide To Learn SQL Programming Step-by-Step are:
Understanding the basic structures of databases & database management systems
SQL Server
Working With MySQL Databases
Using queries to obtain data
Creating an SQL view
How to setup & create a database
How to modify and control tables
Dealing with errors
Some of the topics covered in SQL: The Ultimate Intermediate Guide To Learn SQL Programming Step-by-Step are:
A refresher on SQL fundamentals
An easy-to-follow tutorial on setting up and configuring SQL
Data types and their functions
View encryption, creation, and indexing
Using stored routines and functions to their full potential
The advantages of data normalization
SQL for data analysis
Some of the topics covered in SQL: The Ultimate Expert Guide To Learn SQL Programming Step-by-Step are:
Data Access with ODBC and JDBC
Working with SQL and XML
SQL and JSON
Datasets and Cursors
Procedural Capabilities
Collections
Large Objects
Tuning and Compiling
With this practical and in-depth 3 books in 1, start writing your own programs quickly and efficiently and increase your performance.
More Ways to Learn SQL
You can learn SQL from more than just books. I find learning easiest when I am using multiple formats — books alongside interactive or video courses.
Here are some top-rated courses on SQL:
Udemy: The Complete SQL Bootcamp 2021 has over 60,000 five-star reviews and over nine hours of video content covering all SQL fundamentals. The course tests your knowledge along the way with assessments. One of the reviews says, “I highly recommend this course and I can truly say that it landed me my first Data Analyst job with zero prior experience.”
Coursera: SQL for Data Science is taught my University of California, Davis and has well over a thousand five-star reviews. The four-week course teaches how to use SQL to query and manipulate a database.
Codecademy: The Analyze data with SQL interactive Skill Path is designed to help you make sense of big data, combine data sets, and write professional code. The Skill Path is designed to prepare you for a career as a data analyst and helps you interview prep as the final lesson. This Skill Path is a premium (‘Pro’) offering. For more information, see my review of Codecademy Pro.
With all of these resources in your back pocket, you are well on your way to learn SQL. SQL is a simple yet powerful language. I expect that you will learn quickly and then soar in your career.
If you want to continue to develop yourself as a strong programmer, here’s an article you might like: a full overview of the main principles in Clean Code. I hope to see you there!