📋 Curriculum Review — tracking (45 modules)

[ianfinkdata]

Tracking issue for the full SQL Trainer curriculum review. Each module has its own issue — leave feedback there and we'll iterate until it aligns.

Definition of done (per module): reviewed and either (a) approved with no changes, or (b) refined together until the problem and the solution align. Check the box here as each module issue is closed.

Progress: 1 / 45 ✅

Tip: filter the tracker by tier label — tier-0-orientation, tier-1-beginner, tier-2-intermediate, tier-3-advanced, tier-4-expert, tier-5-master.

Tier 0 — Orientation

• [T0] Orientation — what a database is & how to read this #4 Orientation — what a database is & how to read this ✅ approved as-is

Tier 1 — Beginner

• [T1] The relational model in plain English #5 The relational model in plain English
• [T1] SELECT and FROM — choosing what you see #6 SELECT and FROM — choosing what you see
• [T1] WHERE — filtering to the rows you want #7 WHERE — filtering to the rows you want
• [T1] ORDER BY and LIMIT — sorting and trimming #8 ORDER BY and LIMIT — sorting and trimming
• [T1] DISTINCT and basic expressions #9 DISTINCT and basic expressions
• [T1] Operators, AND/OR/NOT, and ranges #10 Operators, AND/OR/NOT, and ranges

Tier 2 — Intermediate

• [T2] Aggregate functions — COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX #11 Aggregate functions — COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX
• [T2] GROUP BY — summarizing by category #12 GROUP BY — summarizing by category
• [T2] HAVING — filtering the summaries #13 HAVING — filtering the summaries
• [T2] JOINs part 1 — INNER and LEFT #14 JOINs part 1 — INNER and LEFT
• [T2] JOINs part 2 — RIGHT, FULL, CROSS, SELF, anti-joins #15 JOINs part 2 — RIGHT, FULL, CROSS, SELF, anti-joins
• [T2] Set operations — UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT #16 Set operations — UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT
• [T2] Subqueries — nested and correlated #17 Subqueries — nested and correlated
• [T2] CASE and conditional logic #18 CASE and conditional logic
• [T2] NULLs — the three-valued logic that bites everyone #19 NULLs — three-valued logic

Tier 3 — Advanced

• [T3] Window functions — the big idea #20 Window functions — the big idea
• [T3] Ranking — ROW_NUMBER, RANK, DENSE_RANK, NTILE #21 Ranking — ROW_NUMBER, RANK, DENSE_RANK, NTILE
• [T3] Running totals and moving averages #22 Running totals and moving averages
• [T3] LEAD, LAG, and period-over-period #23 LEAD, LAG, and period-over-period
• [T3] Window frames — ROWS vs RANGE #24 Window frames — ROWS vs RANGE
• [T3] CTEs — readable, reusable building blocks #25 CTEs — readable, reusable building blocks
• [T3] Recursive CTEs — hierarchies and sequences #26 Recursive CTEs — hierarchies and sequences
• [T3] Date and time intelligence #27 Date and time intelligence
• [T3] Pivoting and unpivoting #28 Pivoting and unpivoting
• [T3] Strings, patterns, and regular expressions #29 Strings, patterns, and regular expressions

Tier 4 — Expert

• [T4] DDL — designing tables, types, and constraints #30 DDL — designing tables, types, and constraints
• [T4] DML — INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and MERGE/UPSERT #31 DML — INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE/UPSERT
• [T4] Transactions and ACID #32 Transactions and ACID
• [T4] Isolation levels and concurrency #33 Isolation levels and concurrency
• [T4] Views and materialized views #34 Views and materialized views
• [T4] Indexes — how they work and when to add them #35 Indexes — how they work and when to add them
• [T4] Reading query plans (EXPLAIN) #36 Reading query plans (EXPLAIN)
• [T4] Query optimization patterns #37 Query optimization patterns
• [T4] Stored procedures, functions, and triggers #38 Stored procedures, functions, and triggers
• [T4] JSON and semi-structured data #39 JSON and semi-structured data

Tier 5 — Master

• [T5] Data modeling and normalization #40 Data modeling and normalization
• [T5] Dimensional modeling — star and snowflake schemas #41 Dimensional modeling — star and snowflake schemas
• [T5] Slowly changing dimensions #42 Slowly changing dimensions
• [T5] The medallion architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold) #43 The medallion architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold)
• [T5] Partitioning, clustering, and distribution #44 Partitioning, clustering, and distribution
• [T5] Performance tuning at scale #45 Performance tuning at scale
• [T5] Anti-patterns and how to refactor them #46 Anti-patterns and how to refactor them
• [T5] Dialect mastery — knowing your engine #47 Dialect mastery — knowing your engine
• [T5] Capstone projects #48 Capstone projects

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How we'll work each one: open the module issue, drop your feedback in a comment, and I'll either confirm it's solid or push a fix to the module and link the commit. When you're satisfied, close the issue and tick its box here.