SQL

“I’m not a ‘maybe.’ I’m the one.” — Joe Goldberg, YOU

Don’t worry, you don’t need serial-killer focus to master databases. You just need the right first step. This guide strips SQL down to the basics and shows how the two most popular databases PostgreSQL and MySQL handle the same beginner tasks.

What is SQL, really?

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard set of commands that let you store, find, and update data in tables (think spreadsheets with superpowers).

Setting Up (The 5-Minute Version)

Step	PostgreSQL 🐘	MySQL 🐬
Install	sudo apt install postgresql	sudo apt install mysql-server
Open a prompt	psql -U postgres	mysql -u root -p
Create a test DB	CREATE DATABASE library;	CREATE DATABASE library;

First Table & First Rows

-- Run this in EITHER database

CREATE TABLE books (

id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, -- Postgres keyword

-- MySQL users: replace with INT AUTO_INCREMENT

title VARCHAR(100),

author VARCHAR(100),

year_pub INT

);

INSERT INTO books (title, author, year_pub) VALUES

('1984', 'George Orwell', 1949),

('The Pragmatic Programmer', 'Hunt & Thomas', 1999);

Key difference to remember:

PostgreSQL uses SERIAL (or GENERATED AS IDENTITY) to auto-number rows.
MySQL uses AUTO_INCREMENT.

Reading Data (Your Bread-and-Butter Commands)

Goal	SQL Command	What It Does
Show every row	SELECT * FROM books;	Lists the full table.
Show only titles	SELECT title FROM books;	One column.
Filter rows	SELECT * FROM books WHERE year_pub < 2000;	Adds a simple condition.
Sort results	SELECT * FROM books ORDER BY year_pub DESC;	Newest first.
Limit results	SELECT * FROM books LIMIT 2;	Shows two rows—works the same in both DBs.

That’s 95 % of what you’ll do as a beginner.

Spot-the-Difference Cheat Sheet

Feature	PostgreSQL	MySQL
Auto-IDs	SERIAL / IDENTITY	AUTO_INCREMENT
Text vs Quotes	"double_quotes" around mixed-case identifiers	`backticks` (or leave names lowercase)
Case sensitivity	Sensitive if you use quotes	Usually case-insensitive on Windows/Mac
Default charset	UTF-8 out of the box	UTF-8 in recent versions (set with utf8mb4)
Backups	pg_dump	mysqldump

Truth bomb: for beginner projects these differences won’t block you.

Which One Should You Choose?

Pick PostgreSQL 🐘 if…	Pick MySQL 🐬 if…
You want “advanced later” (geo, JSON indexing).	You’re following a LAMP / WordPress tutorial.
You like stricter rules (it yells when you break them).	You just need something light and everywhere.
You enjoy its big open-source extension scene.	Your cheap hosting provider already gives you MySQL.

Wrapping Up (No Stalking Required)

SQL isn’t scary. With five basic commands (CREATE, INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE) you can already build a project portfolio, whether you’re storing recipes or tracking expenses.

So “Maybe it’s you.” Time to choose your first SQL partner and start coding. Questions? Ping me on LinkedIn. I’m here to help… just a lot less creepy than Joe.

And with that, we reach the end of the blog. I hope you had a good read and learned a lot. Stay tuned as we'll cover more tech-related topics in future blogs.

In case of any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn. I'm always open to fruitful discussions.🍏🦜