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15 Best SQL Projects for Beginners (with Source Code) [2023]
Table of Contents
SQL is a powerful language that can be used to query and modify SQL databases. However, it can be difficult for beginners to learn this language because there are many more advanced features than they need.
SQL can be used in many ways, from simple database queries to complex data analytics.
Beginner SQL projects are a great way to learn about databases and how to write SQL code to query them. They can also help you gain experience in different aspects of SQL.
If you're up for an exciting challenge but don't have years of hands-on experience in database development, this article provides you with some of the best SQL projects for data analysis that you can try.
But before we delve into these SQL project ideas, let’s take a refresher on the basics of the SQL language. Feel free to skip ahead to the projects if you’re already confident in your SQL knowledge.
What is SQL?
SQL is an acronym for Structured Query Language, a standard language used to communicate with databases. SQL is used to ask questions (queries) about data in a database, retrieve data from a database, and manipulate data in a database.
It was initially called Structured English Query Language by IBM but later changed to Structured Query Language.
SQL is used to write lines of code that query the database to fetch or store data. When you send an SQL request to a database, the Database Management System (DBMS) processes the request and sends feedback to the user. SQL generally specifies how data is collected, organized, and extracted from/to the database.
SQL is different from common programming languages because it focuses on what the computer should do rather than how it should do it.
SQL uses Data Manipulation Language (DML), and Data Definition Language (DDL) commands to create, update, change, or perform other database structure tasks.
Features & Uses of SQL
We can group the primary uses of SQL into distinct categories.
- Data sharing
- Data retrieval
- Data definition
- Data manipulation
- Access control
Similarly, we can summarize the main SQL features:
- Declarative language type that is not case-sensitive
- No conditional statements like IF, GOTO, FOR, or DO
- Built-in functions for Aggregate and Scalar operations
- Rich & robust transactional query support
- Open-source language is vendor-independent
- Easy & fast to construct/modify SQL databases
- Highly performant SQL databases
- Vertically scalable databases provide great flexibility
- Highly available SQL databases from various vendors
- Portable since commands can be used across multiple systems
- Security via user permissions and authentication
- Easy database management with intuitive SQL language
Best SQL Projects For Beginners in 2023
One of the main benefits of SQL is that it’s easy to learn, meaning that anyone, including beginners with little programming experience, can learn SQL or obtain SQL certifications.
This article will cover 15 SQL project ideas for beginners, as shown in the list below.
- Blood Donation Management System
- Cooking Recipe Website
- Library Database Management System
- Online Retail Database Software
- Inventory Management System
- Voice Commands Transport Enquiry System
- Carbon-Emission Calculator
- Railway Control System Database
- Student Database Management
- Hospital Management System
- Payroll Management System
- Grocery Store Sales
- Centralized College Database
- Food Service Database SQL Project
- Power Bill Database System
You can use these SQL projects with source code to enhance your skills or as SQL projects for practice.
1. Blood Donation Management System
This project in SQL uses a database to store information about medical patients. When designing the database or thinking about the data you want to store or query, consider the patient's name, unique ID, blood type, medical history, and phone number as a starting point.
It’s also a good idea to create an Entity-Relationship (E-R) diagram and a schema to start implementing these fields within a database before trying to normalize it.
2. Cooking Recipe Website
In this SQL project, you can design a website with a recorded procedure to list your cooking instructions under various headings. Here are some tips for displaying and storing your information.
- Utilize HTML text editor to write a recipe post or blog
- Highest rated/liked "Recipe of the Day"
- Cooking videos viewed in the last five hours
You can also add a feature that allows individuals to leave feedback and review recipes and another that allows you to modify or remove a recipe in the admin area. Head over to the GitHub repository using the source code link below to get started.
3. Library Database Management System
An online library management system is user-friendly for assigning books and viewing the many books and topics accessible under a category.
The C# programming language simplifies creating this kind of management information system (MIS). Additionally, rapid information retrieval is possible with SQL commands.
Consider your college library, where lecturers and students can check books out. Typically, both groups have different deadlines for returning the book, ranging from a few days to a few weeks.
Additionally, although they may be identical copies of the same book written by the same author, each has a separate ID. This means that every book in a library management system contains an entry that details who issued it, how long it was on loan, how much any fines came to, and other helpful information.
4. Online Retail Database Software
Online retail application databases are some of the most well-known SQL practice projects as the importance of e-commerce continues to grow.
The application enables customers to sign up and make online purchases. Users also receive a unique client ID and password during the registration process, which gathers the user’s name, contact details, address, bank details, etc.
After making a purchase, a user bill is created based on the item's quantity, price, and applicable discounts. Before the item is sent to the chosen location, the customer must select a payment option to complete the transaction.
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5. Inventory Management System
Inventory management and control ensure that a company keeps enough materials and goods on hand to satisfy customer demands quickly.
By maintaining inventory at the ideal level, companies can increase profitability by avoiding undesirable understocking and overstocking scenarios. In addition, an inventory management and control system will keep the company informed of how many goods and services are in stock.
The design goals for an inventory control management database include securing the necessary items, improving inventory turnover, maintaining safe stock levels, acquiring raw materials at a lower price, lowering storage requirements, minimizing insurance, etc.
6. Voice Commands Transport Enquiry System
With this innovative tool, you can travel faster and avoid those long queues we’ve all seen at bus and train stations.
By using tech-powered systems for transport inquiries, transport operators can enjoy significant savings in time and labor. With this project, commuters can ask questions about their various transportation options.
To do this, you can create an automation process that takes voice commands and responds with speech to share information about bus stops, airports, and train stations.
7. Carbon-Emission Calculator
Environmental preservation has garnered a great deal of attention in recent years. By creating a web app that calculates a building's carbon footprint, you can actively contribute to furthering the cause.
This carbon calculator combines information on floor space and annual working days with user-selected or custom attributes on building types, water fixture types, climate zones, etc.
You can then link emissions outputs to energy use, water usage, transportation, and solid waste disposal.
A similar tool was conceptualized by American business CTG Energetics Inc., which later converted it from an Excel file to a SQL web application.
8. Railway Control System Database
This DBMS requires you to model various rail lines between connecting stations, train stations, train information (each train has a unique ID), rail routes, train schedules, and commuter schedules.
To simplify the project, you can suggest that every train travels to its destination in one day and runs every day.
For recording purposes, concentrate on monitoring the following information for each station along a rail route.
- When a train pulls into a station on schedule
- When a train departs from a station (out-time)
- The positioning of stations along the route
9. Student Database Management
This project can be used to help students with record-keeping. The SQL server would include general student data, such as attendance records, mark or score sheets, fee records, contact details, enrollment year, courses, etc.
An automated student database management system can significantly simplify a university's administrative processes.
10. Hospital Management System
This web-based application or system allows you to control how a hospital is run.
It establishes a uniform record of clients, physicians, and rooms that is only accessible to the administrator. In the database, every doctor and patient will get a unique ID and be connected based on the current treatments.
Separate modules will also be available for hospitalization, patient discharge summaries, nurse responsibilities, medical supplies, etc.
11. Payroll Management System
Based on how widely this system is used across many business sectors, this SQL project is among the most popular for beginners.
A business salary management system computes employees' monthly income, tax rates, and social security benefits. It uses employee information (name, pay scale, designation, benefits, etc.) and time sheets, including leave taken, to calculate salaries.
The application outputs bank files and pay stubs based on specific formulas, and the tax office also receives a similar tax file, which is created and stored in the database.
12. Grocery Store Sales
Every day, tens of thousands of consumers shop at supermarkets for groceries and household goods.
Depending on region or gender, we can use this data to understand customer preferences for payment methods, peak times for visits, and participation in loyalty programs. And we can use this to adjust grocery store policies to raise sales and customer satisfaction.
This project uses a dataset that contains information gathered over three months from three supermarket stores. We can answer a range of questions by examining this dataset.
- Does the percentage of customers participating in the rewards program affect gross income or the mode of payment?
- Which branch has the best performance in the rewards program?
- Does customer feedback affect membership?
- Are there any indicators that differ for men and women?
13. Centralized College Database
This system is similar to the student DBMS system we discussed earlier.
A college has academic departments, including English, Mathematics, History, etc. Each department also provides a range of courses that teachers can oversee using this system.
Consider the scenario where a professor teaches both statistics and calculus. A student may enroll in either of these classes if they are a mathematics major, but a given course can only have one teacher; otherwise, there would be unusual overlaps.
14. Food Service Database SQL Project
Eateries extend their food services beyond their physical locations by offering online delivery options via website pages.
Additionally, restaurants can accept phone orders and send delivery staff to deliver each order. However, delivery people staff can only deliver orders within a given zip code, and they cannot go outside of this.
In this project, the main idea is to maintain records for previous customers so they can be offered discounts for future orders.
15. Power Bill Database System
This SQL project idea is helpful for private-owned electric companies that require a database to manage their ever-growing datasets.
This project allows you to access the example database's user category and admin sections, which will enable you to experiment with the admin operations of a power company’s billing system.
Conclusion
This article has covered 15 different SQL projects for beginners that you can use to learn about databases while improving your SQL skills.
SQL is a powerful language that can be challenging for beginners. Still, by adopting a project-based learning environment, you can use critical thought and inquiry based problem-solving methods to further your SQL skills.
You can also use SQL projects for resume building, which can be very handy when applying for roles that require a certain level of SQL knowledge. We recommend you choose an SQL project idea that uses database normalization strategies, as these data design methods reduce data dependence and redundancy.
You can get started with the SQL project ideas listed above, find several other basic SQL projects from SQL books, or do a Google search for SQL practice projects. To really level up your SQL skills, take a course such as this Project Based SQL Course or this SQL Data Analysis Course.
Of course, if you feel you’ve mastered a range of beginner projects, feel free to look for advanced SQL projects to level up your SQL skills!
Keen to boost your beginner SQL skills but need help figuring out where to start? Check out our article:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How Do I Create an SQL Project?
Projects with SQL are a collection of databases and tables that store data. You can create an SQL project in several steps, depending on your software.
- Go to File > New > Project
- Select SQL Project from the list of templates (or select File > New > Database)
- Enter a database name and click Save
- Ensure you have the correct version of the SQL software you're working with
2. How Do I Put My SQL Project on My Resume?
Firstly, you can list the entire project. But you must make it easy for an employer to read by putting the most important parts at the top of each section. So, for example, if you implemented an online database with a form-filling module and reporting system, just focus on these two components.
Secondly, you can break your project into smaller sections like "User Interface Design", "Database Design", etc. This makes it easier for an employer to understand the time that went into each component of the project without having to read everything.
3. How Do I Practice an SQL Project?
SQL is a complex language; it can feel overwhelming to learn it all at once. It's better to start with SQL database projects for a DBMS like SQLite or look for MySQL projects for beginners. You can then practice by working on your own small project ideas, finding existing databases that need work, or trying out the simple SQL projects we’ve listed above.
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