Relational databases are used all the time in software development.

We just published a course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel that will help you learn relational database design from the ground up. This course covers SQL fundamentals, entity-relationship modeling, normalization (1NF through BCNF), data types and constraints, indexing strategies, and query optimization.

This course is based on the book Grokking Relational Database Design by Dr. Qiang Hao and Dr. Michael Tsikerdekis.

Here are the sections in this course.

  • Relational Databases for Beginners — Tables, Entities, Keys & SQL

  • SQL Filtering & Aggregation

  • SQL Table Commands

  • Foreign Keys in SQL

  • How SQL JOINs Work

  • How to learn SQL on your own

  • Database Design Goals

  • Database Design Lifecycle

  • From Real-World Ideas to Tables

  • Primary Key, Candidate Key, and Super Key

  • Don't Use the Wrong SQL String Type

  • The FLOAT Mistake That Crashed a Stock Exchange

  • SQL Date and Time Types Explained

  • Connecting Entities in an ER Diagram

  • One-to-One Relationships

  • One-to-Many Relationships

  • Many-to-Many Relationships

  • Strong vs Weak Entities

  • First Normal Form - Primary Keys and Atomic Values

  • Second Normal Form - Partial Keys and Functional Dependencies

  • Third Normal Form - Transitive Dependencies

  • The Untold Story of BCNF

  • Primary Key vs Unique Constraints

  • Foreign Key Constraints - ON DELETE & ON UPDATE

  • Other Constraints: NOT NULL, DEFAULT, and CHECK

  • Access Control, Hashing & Encryption

  • B-Tree vs Full-Text Indexes

  • Denormalization

Watch the full course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel (6-hour watch).