I’m about to take a challenge test so I don’t have to take a Database Processing class. Even though I’ve worked with databases through out the last 5 years, I can’t help but be nervous about the test. It’s 50 questions and there’s 2 parts: a true/false part and a part where I actually write SQL commands. It’s non-platform specific.
What are the fundamental things I should know going into this test? What would you require new SQL Developers at your company to know how to do? What questions might be trick questions?
EDIT:
Like I said, it’s non-platform specific but it is non-language specific in all ways. There will not be questions about how to connect in ASP.Net, PHP, or other languages.
The importance of Indexes and Primary Keys / Foreign Keys. Join Syntax and an understanding of the various types of Joins (including table aliasing). Data Type Selection (what column type to assign for an example of the input data set) would make sense. Sub Queries (esp correlated). Stored Procedures. Creation of variables. Aggregation functions and Grouping. Backup and Restoration practices.
That’s a short list to start, I’m curious to see what other people reply with as well.
I thought of a few more. Temporary tables and Views are both good topics. Possibly Pivot Tables.