When we hear the word SQL, the first thing that pops up in our head is data. What exactly does SQL mean? It stands for Structured Query Language. Using SQL, we can write queries which will help us to manipulate data in mystical ways. Data is the fuel in the market. One who knows how to deal with data has a superpower to manipulate the market.

Umm... Data! Now the question comes up: what is actually "DATA"? So, the data itself is divided into further categories: Structured, Semi-Structured, and Unstructured data. Structured data is organized into a specific format, like tables in a database, with clearly defined fields. Semi-structured data doesn't have a rigid structure like structured data but may have some organizational elements, like tags or keys, such as XML or JSON files. Unstructured data has no predefined format and includes things like text documents, images, and videos. By now, you know what data is—it's your name, place location, or anything that you can imagine about yourself on a digital platform. Even your digital footprints are themselves data to predict your area of interest.

In this series, we are going to cover Structured data, as the name suggests itself, "Structured Query Language". Oh! So data is everywhere, but how and where do we store this messy thing? While talking about Data, a Database is something that comes complimentary or vice versa is true. So, you might have heard of MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB, etc. These are termed as databases. Database systems are software applications designed to store, manage, and manipulate data. In simple words, a database is a platform where we will be storing lots and lots of data, and by using query languages like SQL, we can play along with data using SQL. These languages provide mechanisms for creating, updating, querying, and administering databases. Going further, we are going to learn more about MySQL, as this is one of the most common, and in the future, we will cover Google BigQuery for heavy datasets.

Now you know what you are jumping into. From the next post, we will start with the real gaming, first with installation and then write the first query to read data.