SQL and Analytics

Throughout this chapter, you may have noticed the terms SQL table and dataset are interchangeable. More specifically, it should be clear that SQL tables can be thought of as datasets, rows can be considered as individual units of observation, and columns can be considered as features. If you view SQL tables in this way, you can see that SQL is a natural way to store datasets on a computer.

However, SQL can go further than just providing a convenient way to store datasets. Modern SQL implementations also provide tools for processing and analyzing data through various functions. Using SQL, you can clean data, transform data into more useful formats, and analyze a variety of statistical measures to discover interesting patterns. The rest of this book will be dedicated to understanding how SQL can be used for these purposes productively and efficiently.