SQL for Beginners: Setup & T-SQL First Steps (Free)

This course uses SQL Server 2025.
If you are installing SQL Server 2022 in a corporate or existing environment, please use the 2022 edition of this course instead.

This free course is your structured entry point into SQL Server and T-SQL development. In under two hours, you will build, configure, and validate a fully functioning local SQL Server development environment, and execute your first complete T-SQL workflow.

By the end of this course, you will not just have SQL Server installed – you will understand how it runs as a local service, how to control it safely, and how to verify that your environment is stable before building more advanced database solutions.

In under two hours, you will:

• Download and install SQL Server Express
• Install and configure SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
• Optionally connect using Visual Studio Code
• Configure your local SQL Server instance
• Understand SQL Server service startup types (Automatic, Manual, Disabled) and what they mean
• Create a database using T-SQL
• Create a table within that database
• Insert sample rows into the table
• Execute simple T-SQL queries to retrieve data
• Confirm that your development environment is working correctly

This course serves two purposes:

• A structured and professional starting point for absolute beginners
• A quick setup guide for students taking other T-SQL courses

No prior SQL or programming experience is required.

By the end of this course, you will have a fully functioning local SQL Server installation and a validated development workflow that you can confidently build on in future lessons and practical exercises.