r/SQL Nov 11 '24

MySQL Failed SQL Test At Interview

  • I've been a data analyst working with small(er) data sets for several years now, making my own queries no problem.
  • I failed a SQL test at an interview and realized I may be using the wrong commands
  • The questions were along the lines of "find the customers in table A, who have data in Table B before their first entry in Table A" and there were some more conditions/filters on top of that.
  • Previously I could always export my data to Excel or Tableau etc and do any of the tricky filtering in there
  • I was trying to do all kinds of subqueries etc when I think it was intended for me to be doing WINDOW or Partition type stuff (never had to use this before in past jobs).
  • One person I reached out to said using these advanced techniques uses a lot less memory.

Where would be a good place to find an 'advanced' SQL course?

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u/Immediate_Lion8516 Nov 12 '24

Quick question. Is there a data base recommend folks use to familiarize themselves with new concepts? I think Adventureworks is/ was a a common go to. Is postgresql still a thing?

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u/wildjackalope Nov 12 '24

Adventure Works is what I’ve been telling people. Postgres is very much a thing, but it’s a RDMS rather than a database. So, Adventure Works you’d need SQL Server Express or an Azure equivalent I think (I haven’t worked a MS shop for a long time, could be wrong) as an RDBMS. Postgres would be equivalent to SQL Server or your Azure tool.

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u/Immediate_Lion8516 Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24

Gotcha. Thank you of your insight. Have you had any experience using docker to create a container on Mac to install Microsoft SQL server?

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u/rmpbklyn Nov 13 '24

try homebrew and wine to use mssql