Databases are ubiquitous in all businesses and hold significant information about the business. Every data analysis and report typically starts with an SQL query, as SQL is the lingua franca of all database systems. Therefore, SQL is necessary for anyone who needs to analyze data as part of their job. Many tech companies consider the knowledge of SQL a prerequisite for all their analysts and managers. This database class is designed for absolute beginners and teaches students how databases are structured and how to write SQL queries that retrieve data from a database. The class is heavily hands-on, focusing on developing the necessary skills for writing SQL queries. We will cover the following topics: Basics of Entity-Relationship model, and the connection to databases USE, DESCRIBE queries, to understand the structure of a database Selection queries: *, column, column AS, DISTINCT, ORDER BY, LIMIT Filtering data using “where”: Boolean conditions, IN, BETWEEN, LIKE Join queries: Inner and Outer joins, self-joins Aggregation queries: GROUP BY, SUM, AVG, MAX, MIN, etc Subqueries Window queries (if time allows) After this course, students will be able to navigate relational databases, issue queries against databases in an organization, and generate data that can be used for analyses and reports. This course is the first half of the traditional 3cr. version of Dealing with Data (TECH-GB 2346). Students who took TECH-GB 2346 should not take this course.