[ Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) Using SQL ] {CheatSheet}

1. Basic Data Overview

● Show Tables: SHOW TABLES;

● Describe Table Structure: DESCRIBE table_name;
● Select All Data from a Table: SELECT * FROM table_name;
● Count Rows in a Table: SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name;
● List Unique Values in a Column: SELECT DISTINCT column_name FROM
table_name;

2. Aggregations and Summaries

● Count Distinct Values: SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) FROM

table_name;
● Calculate Average Value: SELECT AVG(column_name) FROM table_name;
● Sum Values: SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name;
● Find Maximum and Minimum: SELECT MAX(column_name), MIN(column_name)
FROM table_name;
● Group By and Aggregate: SELECT column1, COUNT(*), AVG(column2) FROM
table_name GROUP BY column1;

3. Data Slicing and Filtering

● Select with Specific Criteria: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE

condition;
● Filtering with Multiple Conditions: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE
condition1 AND condition2;
● Select with ORDER BY: SELECT * FROM table_name ORDER BY column
ASC/DESC;
● Select with LIMIT: SELECT * FROM table_name LIMIT number;
● Using BETWEEN for Range: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column
BETWEEN value1 AND value2;

4. Working with Dates

● Selecting Date Range: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE date_column

BETWEEN '2021-01-01' AND '2021-12-31';
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 ● Extract Year, Month, Day: SELECT YEAR(date_column),
MONTH(date_column), DAY(date_column) FROM table_name;
● Date Format Conversion: SELECT DATE_FORMAT(date_column, '%Y-%m-%d')
FROM table_name;
● Age Calculation from Birthdate: SELECT DATEDIFF(CURDATE(),
birthdate_column) FROM table_name;
● Group By Year or Month: SELECT YEAR(date_column), COUNT(*) FROM
table_name GROUP BY YEAR(date_column);

5. String Operations

● Concatenation of Strings: SELECT CONCAT(string1, string2) FROM

table_name;
● String Length: SELECT LENGTH(string_column) FROM table_name;
● Substring Extraction: SELECT SUBSTRING(string_column, start,
length) FROM table_name;
● Changing Case: SELECT UPPER(string_column), LOWER(string_column)
FROM table_name;
● Finding String Position: SELECT INSTR(string_column, 'substring')
FROM table_name;

6. Conditional Logic

● CASE Statement: SELECT CASE WHEN condition THEN 'result1' ELSE

'result2' END FROM table_name;
● IF Statement: SELECT IF(condition, 'result1', 'result2') FROM
table_name;
● NULL Handling with COALESCE: SELECT COALESCE(column,
'default_value') FROM table_name;
● Conditional Aggregation: SELECT SUM(CASE WHEN condition THEN 1 ELSE
0 END) FROM table_name;

7. Joins and Relationships

● Inner Join: SELECT * FROM table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON

table1.common_column = table2.common_column;
● Left Join: SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON
table1.common_column = table2.common_column;

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 ● Right Join: SELECT * FROM table1 RIGHT JOIN table2 ON
table1.common_column = table2.common_column;
● Full Outer Join: SELECT * FROM table1 FULL OUTER JOIN table2 ON
table1.common_column = table2.common_column;
● Cross Join: SELECT * FROM table1 CROSS JOIN table2;

8. Subqueries and Nested Queries

● Subquery in SELECT: SELECT column, (SELECT AVG(column) FROM table)

AS average FROM table;
● Subquery in FROM: SELECT * FROM (SELECT * FROM table) AS subtable;
● Subquery in WHERE: SELECT * FROM table WHERE column IN (SELECT
column FROM another_table);

9. Data Cleaning

● Removing Duplicates: SELECT DISTINCT * FROM table_name;

● Replacing NULL with Default Value: SELECT IFNULL(column,
'default') FROM table_name;
● Trimming Whitespaces: SELECT TRIM(column) FROM table_name;
● Handling Missing Data (Filter): SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE
column IS NOT NULL;

10. Advanced Aggregation

● Rollup for Subtotals: SELECT column1, column2, SUM(column3) FROM

table_name GROUP BY column1, column2 WITH ROLLUP;
● Grouping Sets for Custom Aggregates: SELECT column1, column2,
SUM(column3) FROM table_name GROUP BY GROUPING SETS ((column1),
(column2));
● Window Functions for Running Totals: SELECT column, SUM(column)
OVER (ORDER BY column) FROM table_name;
● Ranking within Groups: SELECT column, RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY
column1 ORDER BY column2) FROM table_name;

11. Performance and Optimization

● Index Creation for Performance: CREATE INDEX idx_column ON

table_name (column);
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 ● Using EXPLAIN for Query Analysis: EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM
table_name;
● Optimizing with Query Hints: SELECT /*+ HINT */ * FROM table_name;
● Batch Processing with LIMIT and OFFSET: SELECT * FROM table_name
LIMIT 1000 OFFSET 1000;

12. Data Export/Import

● Exporting Data to CSV: SELECT * INTO OUTFILE '/path/to/file.csv'

FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"' LINES
TERMINATED BY '\n' FROM table_name;
● Importing Data from CSV: LOAD DATA INFILE '/path/to/file.csv' INTO
TABLE table_name FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' ENCLOSED BY '"' LINES
TERMINATED BY '\n';

13. Database and Table Management

● Create New Database: CREATE DATABASE database_name;

● Drop Database: DROP DATABASE database_name;
● Create Table with Specific Structure: CREATE TABLE table_name
(column1 datatype, column2 datatype);
● Modify Existing Table Structure: ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD/DROP/MODIFY column_name datatype;
● Delete Table: DROP TABLE table_name;

14. Working with Different Data Types

● Casting Data Types: SELECT CAST(column AS datatype) FROM

table_name;
● Working with Enums: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE enum_column =
'value1';
● Handling JSON Data: SELECT json_extract(json_column, '$.key') FROM
table_name;
● Manipulating Geospatial Data: SELECT ST_Distance(geo_column,
ST_GeomFromText('POINT(lat lon)')) FROM table_name;

15. Analyzing Text and Patterns

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 ● LIKE Operator for Pattern Matching: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE
column LIKE '%pattern%';
● Regular Expressions: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column REGEXP
'regexp_pattern';
● Splitting and Extracting from Strings: SELECT
SUBSTRING_INDEX(column, 'delimiter', part) FROM table_name;

16. Advanced Joins

● Self Join for Hierarchical Data: SELECT t1.column, t2.column FROM

table t1 JOIN table t2 ON t1.id = t2.parent_id;
● Join with Aggregation: SELECT t1.column, SUM(t2.column) FROM table1
t1 JOIN table2 t2 ON t1.id = t2.foreign_id GROUP BY t1.column;
● Join with Complex Conditions: SELECT * FROM table1 t1 JOIN table2
t2 ON t1.id = t2.foreign_id AND t2.condition = 'value';
● Lateral Join (Correlated Subquery): SELECT * FROM table1 t1,
LATERAL (SELECT * FROM table2 t2 WHERE t2.foreign_id = t1.id) as
subquery;

17. Database Views

● Create View for Reuse: CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column1,

column2 FROM table_name WHERE condition;
● Querying a View: SELECT * FROM view_name;
● Updating View Definition: CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_name AS SELECT
column1 FROM table_name;
● Dropping a View: DROP VIEW view_name;

18. Data Integrity and Constraints

● Creating Table with Constraints: CREATE TABLE table_name (column1

datatype PRIMARY KEY, column2 datatype UNIQUE);
● Adding Foreign Key Constraint: ALTER TABLE child_table ADD FOREIGN
KEY (foreign_key_column) REFERENCES parent_table
(parent_key_column);
● Enforcing Data Integrity with Check: ALTER TABLE table_name ADD
CHECK (condition);

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 ● Validating Constraints: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE NOT VALID
condition;
● Creating Unique Constraints: ALTER TABLE table_name ADD UNIQUE
(column);

19. Transaction Control

● Start a Transaction: START TRANSACTION;

● Commit a Transaction: COMMIT;
● Rollback a Transaction: ROLLBACK;
● Set Transaction Isolation Level: SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL
READ COMMITTED;

20. Advanced Subqueries

● Correlated Subquery: SELECT * FROM table1 t1 WHERE EXISTS (SELECT *

FROM table2 t2 WHERE t1.id = t2.foreign_id);
● Subquery as a Table: SELECT * FROM (SELECT * FROM table) AS sub;
● Using Subquery in SELECT Clause: SELECT id, (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM
table2 WHERE foreign_id = table1.id) FROM table1;

21. Working with Large Datasets

● Batch Deletion to Avoid Locks: DELETE FROM table_name WHERE

condition LIMIT 1000;
● Efficient Pagination: SELECT * FROM table_name ORDER BY id LIMIT
1000 OFFSET 5000;
● Optimized Aggregation for Large Tables: SELECT
APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT(column) FROM big_table;

22. Data Warehousing Commands

● Creating Fact and Dimension Tables: CREATE TABLE fact_table (key

INT, measure INT);
● Querying Star Schema: SELECT * FROM fact_table JOIN dimension_table
ON fact_table.dim_key = dimension_table.key;
● ETL Operations: INSERT INTO table SELECT * FROM external_source;

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23. Working with Indexes

● Creating an Index: CREATE INDEX idx_column ON table_name (column);

● Using Index Hint: SELECT * FROM table_name USE INDEX (idx_column);
● Dropping an Index: DROP INDEX idx_column ON table_name;

24. Database Optimization

● Analyzing Table for Optimization: ANALYZE TABLE table_name;

● Optimizing Table: OPTIMIZE TABLE table_name;
● Database Normalization: SELECT * INTO new_table FROM (SELECT
DISTINCT column FROM table_name) AS temp;

25. Query Performance Analysis

● Query Execution Plan: EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE

condition;
● Monitoring Database Performance: SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Key%';
● Identifying Long-running Queries: SHOW PROCESSLIST;

26. Backup and Recovery

● Backing up a Database: mysqldump -u user -p database_name >

backup.sql;
● Restoring from a Backup: mysql -u user -p database_name <
backup.sql;

By: Waleed Mousa