Mastering SQL Fundamentals cohort 2

SQL AMA Core Objectives

To equip you with in depth understanding of SQL syntax and correct application for analytics and data work; grounded in how databases actually function and how queries are logically executed. We will kick off from understanding core relational database theory and data integrity, to writing correct, readable queries, building reliable business metrics, combining data across multiple tables, and performing advanced analytical calculations using window functions.

This is not a syntax sprint, but it might feel like it. The ultimate goal is to develop self-sufficient SQL practitioners who can reason about data, and write accurate, maintainable queries that hold up in production environments.

Core Stack and Platforms:

Operating System

• Any modern operating system: Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Dialect

• PostgreSQL will be the primary database used throughout the course for schema design, querying, and analytics.

SQL Client

• DBeaver will be used to connect to PostgreSQL, explore schemas, visualize relationships (ERDs), and write and debug SQL queries.

  Course Outline

  Module	Lesson Dates	Lesson Description	Syntax	Delivery	Sumission Deadline Where Applicable
  M001: Database Theory Essentials for SQL Users	SQL AMA Cohort 2 Onboarding Session 23/02/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Program Onboarding Session - Align Expectations and Assesment rules. Discuss SQL Engines and Clients. Install Dbeaver and Explore the Dbeaver Interface.	N/A	Virtual - Training Session Mandatory	N/A
  M001: Database Theory Essentials for SQL Users	Lesson 1 24/02/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Introduction to Relational Databases - Introduction to Key relational DB theories and the relational model. Evolving from Spreadsheets to SQL.	DDL - CREATE, ALTER, DROP, TRUNCATE DML - INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE DQL - SELECT	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M001: Database Theory Essentials for SQL Users	Lesson 2 26/02/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Database Keys, Constraints, Normalization & SQL Data Types	DB THEORY: PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, REFERENCES, UNIQUE, NOT NULL DATA TYPES: INTEGER, BIGINT, VARCHAR(n), TEXT, DATE, TIMESTAMP, BOOLEAN, DECIMAL(precision, scale), NUMERIC(precision, scale), ::	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M001: Database Theory Essentials for SQL Users	Lesson 3 28/02/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	M001 Lab - Define a relational entity and enforce integrity with keys and constraints. Explore normalization concepts discussed in Training Sessions. Experiment with various SQL Data Types and DML|DDL syntax.	N/A	Virtual - Code Along Recommended	5/03/2026 5:00PM
  M002: SQL Queries - Building Blocks	Lesson 4 03/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Anatomy of an SQL Query	FROM, JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, SELECT, ORDER BY	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M002: SQL Queries - Building Blocks	Lesson 5 05/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	SQL Logical Processing Order - Deconstructing Order of Appearance VS Execution of SQL Queries	EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN ANALYZE	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M002: SQL Queries - Building Blocks	Lesson 6 07/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	M002 Lab - Writing SQL queries and exploring query anatomy and schema-level querying extensivey (how tables live within schemas and how queries reference them. Illustrating SQL’s logical execution order, showing how each clause transforms the intermediate result set and why queries that look correct can still produce incorrect results.	N/A	Virtual - Code Along Mandatory	12/03/2026 5:00PM
  M003: Filtering, Aggregation, & Metrics	Lesson 7 10/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Filtering Correctly - Apply Row-Level filters before aggregation. Valid and Invalid filtering conditions. Handling Missing or Empty fields.	WHERE...AND|OR, IN, BETWEEN, IS NULL, IS NOT NULL	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M003: Filtering, Aggregation, & Metrics	Lesson 8 12/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Defining the SQL Aggregation Grain	COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX, GROUP BY, HAVING	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M003: Filtering, Aggregation, & Metrics	Lesson 9 14/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	M003 Lab - Designing KPIs that are aggregated on different levels of detail. Controlling aggregation and handling edge cases. Introduce Mandatory Scored Task 001.	N/A	Virtual - Code Along Recommended	21/03/2026 5:00PM
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 10 17/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Review Syntax so Far Session 001	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 11 19/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Review Syntax so Far Session 002	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 12 21/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	CUW Lab - Respond to the queries in Mandatory Scored Task 001. Publishing work so far on Github.	N/A	Virtual - Training Session Mandatory	N/A
  M004: Core SQL Constructs For Data Preparation; Date, String & Numeric Functions	Lesson 13 24/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Core SQL Constructs - Date Functions. Extracting meaningful date/time fields. Date Calcuations. Preparing time-based dimensions.	DATE, TIMESTAMP, EXTRACT(field FROM date_expression), DATE_TRUNC(unit, date_expression), date_expression +- INTERVAL 'naming_string', CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, CAST(value AS DATE), CAST(value AS TIMESTAMP), value::DATE, value::TIMESTAMP	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M004: Core SQL Constructs For Data Preparation; Date, String & Numeric Functions	Lesson 14 26/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Core SQL Constructs - String Functions. Cleaning and Standardizing textual data. Manipulating and deriving values from strings.	TRIM(string), LTRIM(string), RTRIM(string), LOWER(string), UPPER(string), SUBSTRING(string FROM start FOR length), SUBSTRING(string, start, length), CONCAT(string1, string2 [, ...]), LENGTH(string), LPAD(string, length, pad_string), RPAD(string, length, pad_string), CAST(value AS VARCHAR), CAST(value AS TEXT), value::VARCHAR, value::TEXT	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M004: Core SQL Constructs For Data Preparation; Date, String & Numeric Functions	Lesson 15 28/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Core SQL Constructs - SQL Operators and Numeric Functions. Peforming safe, predictable arithmetics. NULL-related erros.	Logical and Comparison Operators. + - * / % ^, COALESCE(value1, value2 [, ...]), NULLIF(value1, value2), CAST(value AS NUMERIC_TYPE), value::NUMERIC_TYPE, ROUND(number [, precision]), ABS(number), CEILING(number), FLOOR(number), MOD(number, divisor), POWER(number, exponent)	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M005: Working with Multiple Tables using JOINs	Lesson 16 31/03/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Fundamentals of Joining Logic. Join Conditions VS Filters.	JOIN, INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, FULL JOIN, ON	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M005: Working with Multiple Tables using JOINs	Lesson 17 02/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Nested JOINs, Chained JOINs. Row Loss and Data Duplication.	N/A	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M005: Working with Multiple Tables using JOINs	Lesson 18 04/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	M005 Lab - Working with JOINs on normalized tables CORRECTLY. Identifying join related logical Errors. Validating the choice in different JOIN TYPES. Introducing Mandatory Scored Task 002.	N/A	Virtual - Code Along Mandatory	09/04/2026 5:00PM | Mandatory Scored Task 002 - 14/04/2026 5:00PM
  M006: Writing Readable Queries	Lesson 19 07/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Introduction to Subqueries; Structuring and Expressing complex logic in clear, correct, mainatinable order. When and Where Subqueries can be used.	SELECT (subquery), FROM (subquery) AS alias, WHERE column IN (subquery), WHERE EXISTS (subquery)...	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M006: Writing Readable Queries	Lesson 20 09/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Introduction to Common Table Expressions - Improving query readability using named query blocks. Replacing nested query logic with cleaner logic.	WITH cte_name AS ( SELECT ...) SELECT ... FROM cte_name;	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M006: Writing Readable Queries	Lesson 21 11/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Review Syntax so Far Session 003	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  M007: Window Functions	Lesson 22 14/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Introduction to Window Functions Syntax. Differentiating WFs from Aggregation Functions. Partitioning and ordering result sets. Aggregate Window Functions.	OVER ()... PARTITION BY... ORDER BY ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), DENSE_RANK() COUNT(*) OVER (...) SUM(expression) OVER (...) AVG(expression) OVER (...) MIN(expression) OVER (...) MAX(expression) OVER (...)	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M007: Window Functions	Lesson 23 16/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Conducting Cummulative and Comparative Analyses with WFs. Navigating Rows and Creating Frames.	LAG(expression [, offset [, default]]) LEAD(expression [, offset [, default]]) FIRST_VALUE(expression) LAST_VALUE(expression) ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW ROWS BETWEEN n PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW ROWS BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND n FOLLOWING ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING	Virtual - Training Session Recommended	N/A
  M007: Window Functions	Lesson 24 18/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	M006 Lab - Writing Analytical Queries with Window Functions while producing Rankings, Running Metrics, and Comparison Metrics. Introducing Mandatory Scored Task 003.	N/A	Virtual - Code Along Mandatory	23/04/2026 5:00PM | Mandatory Scored Task 003 - 25/04/2026 5:00PM
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 25 21/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Review Syntax so Far Session 004	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 26 23/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	CUW Lab -Review of Mandatory Scored Task 002	N/A	Virtual - Training Session Optional	N/A
  CATCH UP WEEK	Lesson 2 25/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	CUW Lab - Review Mandatory Scored Task 003. Introducing Mandatory Scored Task 004 as Capstone Project	N/A	Virtual - Training Session Optional	Mandatory Scored Task 004 - 30/04/2026 5:00PM
  PROJECT WEEK	Lesson 28 26/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Project Support	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  PROJECT WEEK	Lesson 29 27/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Project Support	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  PROJECT WEEK	Lesson 30 28/04/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	CUW Lab -Review of Mandatory Scored Task 004. Publishing on Github.	N/A	Virtual - Support Session Optional	N/A
  Closing Ceremony	04/05/2026 7:30PM - 9:00PM	Closing Ceremony and Showcases	N/A	Virtual Closing Ceremony	N/A

Instructor Introduction