Fundamentals of a query-based syntax

Don’t worry if this section isn’t completely intuitive. Play around with simple queries to become familiar with how the queries are executed. In a nutshell, here are the foundational elements to remember when selecting data from tables. The columns have headings that need to be entered exactly as they are spelled in the source dataset. Don’t worry— we can change both table names and column headings. Have a look at the following syntax:

SELECT some_columns FROM some_data_source WHERE some_condition;

This will make sense when we begin thinking about data questions and what information to consider.

Changing column names

I write SQL keywords such as SELECT, FROM, WHERE in all caps to improve readability, but SQL is not case-sensitive. You can decide to use lowercase if you prefer. This is relevant when you begin renaming your tables when working within a database or GIS.

The data in Figure 2.11 is from the...