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Data is the new age gold. Tech moguls like Google and Facebook with the greatest number of users have a data directory with information about their users. From birthdays to photos to contacts, messages and even voice-over calls – they use the data to provide a better user experience.
Now how do you think this data is managed? Human executives sitting with a registry is a too-old concept to believe. It is computers and servers known as database systems that keep track of all the data.
The next obvious question would be how to use these systems. This is where Sequel programming language takes the lead role. Although this is a programming language, the coding of the language is a lot simpler than other programming languages like Python, Java etc. In a way, you can say that SEQUEL is closer to human language than the latter ones.
This blog will be your friendly guide to learning about Sequel programming languages in a hassle-free manner. Let’s begin!
SEQUEL stands for Structured English Query Language, which is a programming language used to interact with databases. This is the fundamental language that relational database systems employ to carry out all of their operations. SQL is a computer language that enables programmers to manage data. Like any other significant programming language, this coding language supports looping, variables, and logic directives. However, it differs from projects using other programming languages, including C++ or Java.
Programmers refer to SEQUEL as the fourth generation coding language (4GL), whereas languages like Java and C++ are rated as the third generation coding language or 3GL.
In general, different SQL queries are used to create, update, and extract data from databases. Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server Oracle, Access, and Ingres are a few examples of relational database management systems that are widely used and employ SQL statements for database-related operations.
Commands like Create, Select and Insert are used in this programming language. But before we delve into that, let’s address the elephant in the room –
Yes, they are the same. Raymond Boyce and Donald Chamberlin, two IBM researchers, created SQL in its initial form. Its original name was SEQUEL. Yet owing to constitutional issues, the abbreviation SEQUEL was eventually altered to SQL because “SEQUEL” was the brand name of an aircraft manufacturer based in the UK called Hawker Siddeley. And that is how SEQUEL became SQL.
To understand SQL programming help, you have to comprehend the features that make SQL one of the most powerful database management programming languages.
Let’s have a look at them one by one.
Relational databases are the principal use for SQL. The relational database’s tabular form makes SQL simple to learn and use. The plus point is that it offers a straightforward user interface.
The retrieval of a vast volume of data happens swiftly and effectively in SQL. Moreover, straightforward tasks like inserting, removing, and altering data can also be completed quickly.
Because the SQL database is vertically scalable, you may add additional RAM, SSDs, or CPUs to a single server to increase the demand.
A number of security-enabling technologies are built into SQL Server, including SSL/TLS-encrypted communication, the Windows Data Protection API for encrypting data while it is in transit, and authentication and permission.
SQL offers authentication in two modes – windows authentication and mixed mode.
As all of the main DBMS suppliers offer SQL support, no additional DBMS product has experienced significant growth during the past ten years.
SQL-based database products, including mainframes, PCs, workstations, etc., support many platforms.
Due to the fact that it uses English-like verbs like create, select, delete, and update, SQL is straightforward and simple to understand.
It is possible to update and expand a database’s structure dynamically even while users are viewing database content, which is one of SQL’s key advantages over other static databases.
SQL implementation is a natural fit for distributed client/server systems applications.
SQL like any other programming language has its own markup. This makes it important for the programmers to have an extended knowledge of SQL and markup including the concept of tables.
In essence, a database is represented as the total number of tables. Each table will represent a set of data and have a unique number of columns as well as rows. You can add more tables to a database, and each table lets you store a ton of information.
You should use SQL commands if you wish to make any modifications to the dataset or the tables that are present in the database. Let’s examine the set of SQL language components and operations. Statements in SQL typically start with keywords or commands and terminate with a semicolon.
SQL Language Elements | Description |
KEYWORDS | These are the words used to perform the different sets of operations in the database. Example – JOIN |
IDENTIFIERS | Identifiers present the name of objects in a database. Example – Columns and Indexes |
EXPRESSIONS | Expressions refer to a string of symbols that is used to perform all kinds of math-related operations on the data. |
SEARCH CONDITIONS | Search conditions are used to select any subset of the rows from within the table. |
DATA TYPES | As the name suggests, this refers to the type of data stored in the table. |
Here are some of the most important SQL commands
SELECT – extracts data from a database |
UPDATE – updates data in a database |
DELETE – deletes data from a database |
INSERT INTO – inserts new data into a database |
CREATE DATABASE – creates a new database |
ALTER DATABASE – modifies a database |
CREATE TABLE – creates a new table |
ALTER TABLE – modifies a table |
DROP TABLE – deletes a table |
CREATE INDEX – creates an index (search key) |
DROP INDEX – deletes an index |
Creating Database
This is used in creating a new database.
Here is the syntax –
CREATE DATABASE databasename;
Drop Database
This is used to drop (delete) an existing database.
Here is the syntax –
DROP DATABASE database name;
Backup Database
This is used in SQL servers to completely back up an existing database.
The syntax is as follows –
BACKUP DATABASE databasename
TO DISK = ‘file path’;
Create Table
This statement is used to create a table in a new database.
Here is the syntax –
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
….
);
Drop Table
This statement is used to delete or drop an existing table within a database.
DROP TABLE table_name;
Alter Table
Alter table includes a list of functions as follows –
Add Column
This is used to add a column to a table.
The syntax is – ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name datatype;
Drop Column
This is used to delete or drop an existing column from an existing table.
The syntax is –
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;
Rename Column
This is used to change the name of a particular column in a particular table.
The syntax is –
ALTER TABLE table_name
RENAME COLUMN old_name to new_name;
Let’s look into the table ‘films’ – a SQL table holding data of 10 movies.
S. no | Title | Release year | Budget | Gross | IMDB score |
1 | The Godfather | 1972 | 6000000 | 134821952 | 9.2 |
2 | The Dark Knight | 2008 | 185000000 | 533316061 | 9 |
3 | The Godfather: Part II | 1974 | 13000000 | 57300000 | 9 |
4 | Schindler’s List | 1993 | 22000000 | 96067179 | 8.9 |
5 | Pulp Fiction | 1994 | 8000000 | 107930000 | 8.9 |
6 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 2003 | 94000000 | 377019252 | 8.9 |
7 | Fight Club | 1999 | 63000000 | 37023395 | 8.8 |
8 | Inception | 2010 | 160000000 | 292568851 | 8.8 |
9 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back | 1980 | 18000000 | 290158751 | 8.8 |
10 | The Shawshank Redemption | 1994 | 25000000 | 28341469 | 9.3 |
SELECT – FROM
You can select the fields from the database table that you want to see using the SELECT command. Suppose you need the “title” field.
The FROM keyword or command identifies the precise database table from which you want to retrieve data. Keep in mind that a database may have numerous tables.
Syntax: SELECT column1, column2, … FROM table_name;
SQL query: SELECT title FROM films;
Output –
Title | |
1 | The Godfather |
2 | The Dark Knight |
3 | The Godfather: Part II |
4 | Schindler’s List |
5 | Pulp Fiction |
6 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
7 | Fight Club |
8 | Inception |
9 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back |
10 | The Shawshank Redemption |
WHERE
You can use the ‘WHERE’ clause to extract only those records that fulfil a specified condition.
Syntax: SELECT column1, column2, … FROM table_name WHERE condition;
SQL query: SELECT title, release_year FROM films WHERE release_year = 2010;
Result:
Title | Release year | |
1 | Inception | 2010 |
Arithmetic in SQL
You can perform simple arithmetic in SQL using the mathematical symbols: +, -, *, and/. However, you can only perform operations across columns using these arithmetic symbols. You can also use parentheses to manage the order of operations.
Let’s see how to calculate the profit made by the films from the given table.
SQL query: SELECT title, (gross – budget) AS movie profit FROM films
Result:
Title | Movie profit | |
1 | The Godfather | 128821952 |
2 | The Dark Knight | 348316061 |
3 | The Godfather: Part II | 44300000 |
4 | Schindler’s List | 74067179 |
5 | Pulp Fiction | 99930000 |
6 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 283019252 |
7 | Fight Club | -25976605 |
8 | Inception | 132568851 |
9 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back | 272158751 |
10 | The Shawshank Redemption | 3341469 |
1. Commonality
The English-like language used for coding is the greatest benefit of SEQUEL language. Due to this, the language can be used in several IT systems and can be clubbed with other languages as well. This is a huge advantage for beginners in the field. It contributes to the ease of application and makes sure better efficiency of a business.
2. Simplicity
Again, the coding language is so simple, and the commands are so easy to use that it helps the programmer remember the codes and the commands. Besides, this contributes to better and easier learning for the programmers.
3. Integration
Further more advantageous is SQL’s simplicity of integration with some other programming languages. It integrates with both Python and R the best. Using the integration function makes database management and data manipulation easier.
4. Speed
SQL has the capability to operate at a highspeed interface. This adds a professional edge to the coding language and increases the quantity of data retrieval.
At this point, you are very well aware of SEQUEL as a programming language. Often, programmers suggest that C Sharp and SEQUEL are similar. Let’s see how similar they are –
Both the languages have some strong points of differences as well. They are –
We hope this concise guide was helpful. We have also answered a few of the most common queries we get from students. Read on to get your doubts cleared.
Structured Query Language or SQL is the most commonly used sequel programming language. This is because of its extended features –
The common operations that are performed using sequel programming language are –
Some of the advantages of using sequel programming language –
Some of the disadvantages of using the sequel programming language
Sequel programming can be used for relational databases only. To use in a non-relational database, you can use NoSQL.
There are five editions of SQL Server: Standard, Web, Enterprise, Developer, and Express.
Yes, SQL programming can be used with big data, but only the advanced versions of the same are capable of doing so.