We revisit a course that aims to take you from basic to advanced SQL skills using PostgreSQL, the highly popular open source SQL database.

We first covered PostgreSQL For Everybody in 2021 when it launched on the Coursera platform. At the time we reported how Dr Chuck, the author of the course, explained its origins. In the other courses he teaches, both at the University of Michigan and online, he repeatedly covers basic SQL and students have often told him that they like the SQL part of the classes and have asked for more. As such he made "PostgreSQL for Everybody".

The course starts with basics covering :

• The history of Relational Databases
• Working with tables and PostgreSQL
• Data types in PostgreSQL
• Relational Database Design
• Database Normalization

Afterwards the instructor moves to more advanced topics which are usually targeted ar more experienced SQL developers. In the second of four module we fond ourselves  examining Joins, Queries, Sub-Queries, Groups etc and soon enough we get into functions who handle text, even with Regular Expressions, JSON and Natural Language processing and how PostgreSQL creates and uses inverted indexes.

Next is about using PostgreSQL with Python, for instance using PostgreSQL to retrieve and store API data. The last two chapters are on Database architectures, scalability, what NoSQL is and using ElasticSearch to explore NoSQL.

That completes the journey. While it started being branded as a PostgreSQL tutorial, it went well beyond that. It actually is a well rounded tutorial covering the relational model and the features you would expect to find in a modern dbms product. On top of that add a charismatic teacher with great capacity in explaining things well.

The course while self-contained and being hosted on its own web site, can also be taken alternatively at Coursera as the "Postgre SQL For Everybody Specialization" and at edX as "Professional Certificate in PostgreSQL". Both options hand out certificates of completion but the best reason for enrolling is to complete the graded assignments which you won't find on the website, which is really just supporting materials.

More Information

PostgreSQL for Everybody

Postgre SQL For Everybody Specialization on Coursera

Professional Certificate in PostgreSQL on edX

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