How SQLZoo Tutorials Are Organized and Where Beginners Should Start

Updated

Start with 0 SELECT basics, then work through 1 SELECT name and 2 SELECT from World in order. SQLZoo organizes its tutorials as a numbered sequence that moves from simple SELECT queries to joins, aggregates, window functions, and finally database creation and DDL. The numbering is the intended path: each tutorial builds on the tables and query patterns introduced earlier, so skipping ahead usually means meeting syntax you haven't practiced yet.

The tutorial sequence at a glance

SQLZoo's main "Learn SQL step by step" track runs from 0 to 12, with a few extra numbered topics inserted along the way:

Step Tutorial What you practice
0 SELECT basics Simple queries to get started
1 SELECT name Pattern matching queries
2 SELECT from World Querying the World country profile table
3 SELECT from Nobel More practice on basic features using Nobel Prize winners
4 SELECT within SELECT Forming queries using other queries (subqueries)
5 SUM and COUNT Aggregate functions
6 JOIN Joining tables from the World Cup 2026 data
7 More JOIN operations Joining actors to movies in the Movie Database
8 Using Null Teachers in departments; handling null values
8+ Numeric Examples A survey with more complex calculations
9- Window function UK general election results
9+ COVID 19 Measuring the impact of COVID-19
9 Self join Edinburgh bus routes joined to themselves
10 Tutorial Quizzes Multiple-choice knowledge checks
11 Tutorial Student Records Creating a database
12 Tutorial DDL Importing data and analysing it in MySQL

Each tutorial is built around a specific example table — country profiles, Nobel winners, World Cup matches, movies, teachers and departments, election results, bus routes. That design means you learn a concept by querying real-shaped data rather than abstract syntax.

Where a beginner should start

The first three steps are the on-ramp:

  1. 0 SELECT basics — the simplest queries, enough to understand how to read rows from a table.
  2. 1 SELECT name — pattern matching, so you learn to filter with conditions rather than just display everything.
  3. 2 SELECT from World — the first substantial table, where basic features get combined.

Only after those should you move to 3 SELECT from Nobel (extra practice on the same basics) and 4 SELECT within SELECT (subqueries). Steps 0–3 are all about SELECT; the course deliberately delays aggregates and joins until step 5 and 6.

A practical checkpoint: if you can write a query on the World table that filters rows and returns selected columns without looking anything up, you're ready for step 4.

After the basics: the intermediate and advanced track

  • 5 SUM and COUNT introduces aggregate functions.
  • 6 JOIN and 7 More JOIN operations are the two join tutorials, using different datasets (World Cup and a movie database), so you see joins applied twice before moving on.
  • 8 Using Null covers missing values, and 8+ Numeric Examples adds more complex calculations.
  • 9- Window function, 9+ COVID 19, and 9 Self join are the advanced querying topics; the self join tutorial uses Edinburgh bus routes joined to themselves.
  • 10 Tutorial Quizzes lets you test knowledge with multiple-choice quizzes before the database-building material.

Beyond the step-by-step track

SQLZoo also lists two other sections alongside the numbered tutorials:

  • Reference: how to... — task-oriented guides covering SELECT, CREATE and DROP, INSERT and DELETE, DATE and TIME, functions, users and permissions, meta data, SQL hacks, transactions, and using SQL with PHP on Amazon EC2 or with C#. Use these when you need to look up a specific operation rather than follow a lesson.
  • Assessments — more involved examples for confident users, plus Challenges.

The site also offers language options (English, 日本語, русский, 中文) and notes that you can log in, though the tutorial pages themselves are readable without an account.

A suggested route

For a beginner, the shortest sensible path is 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7, pausing at 10 Tutorial Quizzes to check retention, then continuing to 8, 8+, 9-, 9+, 9 for nulls, numeric work, window functions, and self joins. Leave 11 Student Records and 12 DDL until you want to create and import your own data, and dip into the Reference section whenever a tutorial assumes a command you haven't met.