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stage 4

sql mastery checklist

goal: set-based thinking.

phase 1 — fundamentals

  • select all columns
  • select specific columns
  • filter with where
  • sort with order by
  • limit rows
  • count rows
  • max / min / avg
  • basic conditions (between, like)

phase 2 — grouping

  • group by city
  • sum revenue per user
  • max order per user
  • count per day
  • having clause
  • filter grouped data

phase 3 — joins

  • inner join users and orders
  • left join with null handling
  • users without orders
  • product revenue aggregation
  • top users by spending
  • most sold product
  • products never ordered

goal: relational clarity.

phase 4 — intermediate logic

  • subqueries (above average spending)
  • second highest value
  • window function ranking
  • running totals
  • first order per user
  • duplicate detection
  • percentage contribution

window functions = intellectual maturity in sql.

phase 5 — business analysis

  • cohort analysis
  • retention rate
  • churn detection
  • category revenue per month
  • anomaly detection vs user average

this is analytics engineering thinking.