SQL and Analytics

Throughout this chapter, you may have noticed some parallels between SQL tables and datasets. More specifically, it should be clear that SQL tables can be thought of as a dataset, rows can be considered as individual units of observation, and columns can be considered as features. If we view SQL tables in this way, we can see that SQL is a natural way to store datasets in 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, we can clean data, transform data into more useful formats, and analyze data with statistics to find interesting patterns. The rest of this book will be dedicated to understanding how SQL can be used for these purposes productively and efficiently.