SQL for Beginners: 10 Must-Know Concepts to Kickstart Your Database Journey

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It’s the go-to query language for most of us who develop relational databases. If you want to work with relational database management systems, learning SQL is pretty much non-negotiable. Especially if you want to become a SQL developer.

If you’re interested in becoming a SQL developer, here are ten essential SQL concepts that you need to learn.

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How to DROP Tables with Foreign Key Relationships in PostgreSQL

Nothing pulls me out of the “zone” quicker than attempting to drop a table, only to be told “Nope, that table has a dependency!”.

Granted, this usually only happens in my development environments, as I rarely have any need to drop tables in a production environment.

And that’s probably why it “pulls me out of the zone”. I suddenly have to stop and start thinking about what tables contain foreign keys to the one I’m trying to drop. In dev environments, we’re often trying things out and so it’s not out of the question that we might inadvertently try to drop a table without realising it has dependent objects.

Fortunately, when we’re working with PostgreSQL, we have a quick and easy method to overcome this barrier.

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How to TRUNCATE a Temporal Table in SQL Server

Temporal tables in SQL Server provide a powerful way to track historical data changes. However, when it comes to clearing out data from these tables, the standard TRUNCATE statement doesn’t work the same as it does on normal (non-temporal) tables.

This article will guide you through the process of truncating a temporal table while maintaining its integrity.

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How to Specify your own Subscript Range when Creating an Array in PostgreSQL

By default, PostgreSQL arrays are one-based. This means that we need to use 1 if we want to reference the first element in the array, 2 for the second, and so on.

But we also have the option of specifying our own subscript range for an an array. For example we could create a zero-based array, a ten-based array, or even a negative value such as a negative ten-based array.

We can do this by using subscripted assignment to specify the actual subscript range for the array. Basically, we prefix the array with the subscript range, enclosed in square brackets, and an equals sign (=) between it and the array.

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