Inside the workshop
SQL AMA Core ObjectivesTo equip you with in depth understanding of SQL syntax and correct application for analytics and datawork; grounded in how databases actually function and how queries are logically executed. We will kickoff from understanding core relational database...
SQL AMA Core Objectives
To equip you with in depth understanding of SQL syntax and correct application for analytics and data
work; grounded in how databases actually function and how queries are logically executed. We will kick
off from understanding core relational database theory and data integrity, to writing correct, readable
queries, building reliable business metrics, combining data across multiple tables, and performing
advanced analytical calculations using window functions.
This is not a syntax sprint, but it might feel like it. The ultimate goal is to develop self-sufficient SQL
practitioners who can reason about data, and write accurate, maintainable queries that hold up in
production environments.
Core Stack and Platforms:
Operating System
Any modern operating system: Windows, macOS, or Linux.
Dialect
PostgreSQL will be the primary database used throughout the course for schema design,
querying, and analytics.
SQL Client
DBeaver will be used to connect to PostgreSQL, explore schemas, visualize relationships (ERDs),
and write and debug SQL queries.
Module | Date | Session Time | Lesson | Lesson Objective / Journey Milestone | Syntax | Delivery | Attendance / Submission Requirement | Submission Deadline Where Applicable |
BEGINNER JOURNEY STARTS | Stage 1: SQL Orientation & Relational Foundations | Thu, 03 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 1 | Learners will be able to explain the course journey and assessment expectations, distinguish a database engine from a SQL client, install PostgreSQL and DBeaver, connect successfully, and navigate databases, schemas, tables, rows, and columns. | PostgreSQL; DBeaver; DATABASE; SCHEMA; TABLE | Virtual - Onboarding & Training Session | Mandatory | N/A |
| Sat, 05 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 2 | Learners will be able to explain the relational model, identify table grain, primary and foreign keys, select appropriate data types, and describe how constraints protect data quality. | PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, REFERENCES, NOT NULL, UNIQUE, CHECK, INTEGER, NUMERIC, VARCHAR, DATE, TIMESTAMP, BOOLEAN | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Mon, 07 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 3 | Learners will be able to create a small normalized schema, load and modify sample records safely, inspect table metadata, and document each table’s grain, key, and relationship to other tables. | CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE; information_schema | Virtual - Code Along | Mandatory | Foundation practice - 09/09/2026 5:00PM |
BEGINNER | Stage 2: Building Accurate Single-Table Queries | Thu, 10 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 4 | Learners will be able to construct readable SELECT statements, choose columns deliberately, create useful aliases, remove duplicates, sort results, limit output, and describe SQL logical processing order. | SELECT, FROM, AS, DISTINCT, ORDER BY, ASC, DESC, LIMIT | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Sat, 12 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 5 | Learners will be able to translate business rules into accurate row filters, combine predicates safely, recognize operator-precedence risks, and handle NULL using three-valued logic. | WHERE, AND, OR, NOT, IN, BETWEEN, LIKE, ILIKE, IS NULL, IS NOT NULL | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Mon, 14 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 6 | Learners will be able to answer a set of stakeholder questions from transaction data, test boundary cases, reconcile returned row counts, and explain why each filtering choice is logically correct. | SELECT...FROM...WHERE...ORDER BY; COUNT(*) validation | Virtual - Applied Lab | Mandatory | Query fundamentals quiz + lab - 16/09/2026 5:00PM |
BEGINNER | Stage 3: Preparing Data & Producing Business Metrics | Thu, 17 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 7 | Learners will be able to create calculated fields with arithmetic and CASE expressions, convert data types deliberately, and prevent common NULL and divide-by-zero errors. | CASE WHEN, CAST, ::, COALESCE, NULLIF, +, -, *, /, % | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Sat, 19 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 8 | Learners will be able to clean and standardize text, derive useful date attributes, calculate durations, and produce consistent analysis-ready dimensions. | TRIM, LOWER, UPPER, REPLACE, SUBSTRING, CONCAT, LENGTH, EXTRACT, DATE_TRUNC, INTERVAL | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Mon, 21 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 9 | Learners will be able to define metric grain, aggregate data without double counting, filter grouped results, build conditional KPIs, and reconcile totals to a known baseline. | COUNT, COUNT(DISTINCT), SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX, GROUP BY, HAVING, SUM(CASE WHEN ...) | Virtual - Metrics Lab | Mandatory | Mandatory Scored Task 01 draft - 23/09/2026 5:00PM |
STRATEGIC CATCH-UP CHECKPOINT 1 | Beginner Consolidation & Submission Recovery | Thu, 24 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 10 | Learners will be able to diagnose their own gaps across setup, SELECT, filtering, expressions, cleaning, and aggregation, then follow a targeted remediation pathway based on quiz evidence. | Beginner syntax review; diagnostic and debugging checklist | Virtual - Support & Diagnostic Session | Recommended | Diagnostic completed during session |
| Sat, 26 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 11 | Learners will be able to correct weak or incomplete work, validate Mandatory Scored Task 01, incorporate feedback, document assumptions, and submit a reproducible beginner-level analysis. | Validation queries; SQL comments | Virtual - Submission Recovery Clinic | Mandatory | Mandatory Scored Task 01 final - 28/09/2026 5:00PM |
BEGINNER | Stage 4: Joining Tables & Integrating Skills | Mon, 28 Sep 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 12 | Learners will be able to choose an appropriate join type from a business requirement, join tables using keys, predict output grain, and distinguish matched, unmatched, and preserved records. | INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, FULL OUTER JOIN, ON, USING | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Thu, 01 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 13 | Learners will be able to detect row loss, duplication, accidental many-to-many joins, misplaced filters, and NULL join behavior using repeatable pre- and post-join validation checks. | COUNT(*) before/after, COUNT(DISTINCT key), anti-join pattern, IS NULL | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Sat, 03 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 14 | Learners will be able to complete a multi-table analysis that combines filtering, cleaning, aggregation, and joins; justify design choices; reconcile outputs; and demonstrate readiness to progress. | Beginner curriculum integration: SELECT, CASE, functions, GROUP BY, JOINs | Virtual - Beginner Checkpoint Assessment | Mandatory | Beginner Checkpoint - 05/10/2026 5:00PM |
INTERMEDIATE JOURNEY STARTS | Stage 5: Subqueries, Set Logic & Readable CTEs | Mon, 05 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 15 | Learners will be able to solve semi-join, anti-join, missing-record, and cohort questions using self joins, EXISTS, NOT EXISTS, and set operations, while preserving the intended result grain. | SELF JOIN, EXISTS, NOT EXISTS, UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, EXCEPT | Virtual - Training Session | Mandatory | N/A |
| Thu, 08 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 16 | Learners will be able to use scalar, list, and correlated subqueries in appropriate clauses, compare IN with EXISTS, and recognize when repeated subquery work harms clarity. | Scalar subquery, IN (subquery), EXISTS, correlated subquery, derived table | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Sat, 10 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 17 | Learners will be able to refactor a complex nested query into clearly named CTE stages, assign a grain contract to each stage, add validation checkpoints, and conduct a readability review. | WITH cte_name AS (...), multiple CTEs, aliases, validation queries | Virtual - Refactoring Lab | Mandatory | Readable-query task - 12/10/2026 5:00PM |
INTERMEDIATE | Stage 6: Window Functions & Analytical SQL | Mon, 12 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 18 | Learners will be able to distinguish aggregation from windowed analysis, partition and order result sets, and calculate group metrics without removing row-level detail. | OVER(), PARTITION BY, ORDER BY; COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX OVER | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Thu, 15 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 19 | Learners will be able to create deterministic rankings, top-N-per-group outputs, deduplication rules, and contribution-to-total measures while handling ties explicitly. | ROW_NUMBER, RANK, DENSE_RANK, NTILE; aggregate windows | Virtual - Training Session | Recommended | N/A |
| Sat, 17 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 20 | Learners will be able to calculate prior-period change, running totals, and moving averages; select correct window frames; and explain the effect of ordering and default frames. | LAG, LEAD, FIRST_VALUE, LAST_VALUE, ROWS BETWEEN, UNBOUNDED PRECEDING | Virtual - Analytical SQL Lab | Mandatory | Mandatory Scored Task 02 draft - 19/10/2026 5:00PM |
STRATEGIC CATCH-UP CHECKPOINT 2 | Intermediate Consolidation & Project Recovery | Mon, 19 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 21 | Learners will be able to diagnose errors in joins, subqueries, CTEs, and window functions, select a targeted remediation track, and repair broken analytical queries with instructor support. | Intermediate syntax review; logical-error checklist; test queries | Virtual - Support & Debugging Clinic | Recommended | Diagnostic completed during session |
| Thu, 22 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 22 | Learners will be able to complete outstanding exercises and submissions, strengthen validation and readability, incorporate peer feedback, and confirm a feasible scope for the final applied project. | CTEs, window functions, validation suite, code review, project checklist | Virtual - Training Session | Mandatory | Outstanding tasks - 24/10/2026 5:00PM |
INTERMEDIATE | Stage 7: Applied Analysis, Quality & Portfolio Project | Sat, 24 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 23 | Learners will be able to frame a business problem, profile a dataset, define questions and metric grain, identify required tables, and write an auditable SQL analysis plan. | Profiling queries; COUNT-based quality checks; metric definitions; project plan | Virtual - Training Session | Mandatory | N/A |
| Mon, 26 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 24 | Learners will be able to implement a multi-stage analysis using joins, CTEs, and window functions; validate uniqueness and completeness; reconcile results; and document assumptions and limitations. | JOINs, CTEs, window functions, EXCEPT checks, validation queries | Virtual - Training Session | Mandatory | N/A |
| Thu, 29 Oct 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 25 | Project Introduction | N/A | Virtual - Project Build Clinic | Mandatory | N/A |
| Sat, 31 Oct 2026 - Sat, 14 Nov 2026 | N/A | Lesson 26 | Project Support | N/A | Virtual Project Support | Mandatory | Final capstone - 14/11/2026 12:00PM |
| Mon, 16 Nov 2026 | 7:30PM - 9:00PM | Lesson 27 | Project Showcase | Closing Ceremony | Virtual - Project Showcase & Feedback | Mandatory | Submission verified during showcase |
Meet your trainer
1 trainer
Kimaiga Barongo
Hi, I’m Barongo—a data professional with a foundation in software engineering and a deep appreciation for systems thinking. I’ve worked across SaaS companies, fintechs, and even at a bakery; building applications with data as our driving undercurrents. I learnt SQL on survival mode, but out of this traumatic experience came the inspiration for this workshop. Outside the syntax and Leetcode challenges, SQL is a powerhouse in the data space. This SQL AMA Workshop is built to reflect and contextualize the value of this language in business and tech teams. Over twelve weeks, we’ll explore the language and its applications deeply, iteratively, and practically. You’ll sharpen how you ask and interpret questions, how you structure solutions, and ultimately how you think in SQL. And yes—this is the session where you can ask me anything.