This book is intended for any SQL Server developer or database administrator (DBA) who wants to start working in the data science field. In addition, this book is also aimed at existing data scientists who want to start using SQL Server with related services and tools. I will use, and show examples in, three programming languages in this book: Transact-SQL (or T-SQL), R, and Python. Therefore, it makes sense to start with a brief introduction of the three languages. This is what the first three chapters are about. If you are already a SQL Server developer, proficient in writing T-SQL queries, you can simply skip the first chapter. If you are already working with R, skip the second chapter. If you are familiar with Python, please feel free to skip the third chapter.
This first chapter is not a comprehensive reference guide to T-SQL; I will focus on the mighty SELECT statement only, the statement you need to use immediately when your data is located in a SQL Server database. However, besides the basic clauses, I will also explain advanced techniques, such as window functions, common table expressions, and the APPLY operator.
This chapter will cover the following points:
- Core Transact-SQL SELECT statement elements
- Advanced SELECT techniques
