SQL & PostgreSQL Curriculum — Vets Who Code

Goal: Train veterans to confidently use PostgreSQL for storing, retrieving, and managing mission-critical data.

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Module 1: PostgreSQL Basics

• History & military roots (DARPA funding, Postgres origins)
• Installing and connecting to PostgreSQL
• Understanding databases, tables, rows, columns
• Core SQL categories: DDL, DML, DQL, DCL, TCL
• PostgreSQL data types (numeric, text, date/time, JSON)

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Module 2: Querying Data

• SELECT basics and selecting specific columns
• Filtering with WHERE (=, >, <, LIKE, BETWEEN, IN)
• Removing duplicates with DISTINCT
• Sorting results with ORDER BY
• Using LIMIT for result control

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Module 3: Modifying Data

• Adding data with INSERT
• Changing data with UPDATE
• Removing data with DELETE and TRUNCATE

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Module 4: Working with Multiple Tables

• Understanding primary & foreign keys
• Joining tables: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL
• Aggregating with GROUP BY and HAVING
• Using subqueries

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Module 5: Database Design & Management

• Normalization basics (1NF, 2NF, 3NF)
• Constraints: NOT NULL, UNIQUE, PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, CHECK
• Creating & altering tables (CREATE, ALTER, DROP)
• Indexes for performance

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Module 6: Advanced PostgreSQL Features

• Window functions (ROW_NUMBER, RANK)
• Common Table Expressions (CTEs)
• JSON and Array support in Postgres
• Using EXPLAIN for query optimization

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Module 7: PostgreSQL Administration

• Roles and permissions (GRANT, REVOKE)
• Backups & restores (pg_dump, pg_restore)
• Basic performance tuning
• Maintenance tasks (VACUUM, ANALYZE)

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Capstone Project

• Build and query a PostgreSQL database using real-world veteran-related datasets
• Create reports and dashboards using SQL queries
• Implement a role-based permission system