Three common options for storage are text files, spreadsheets, and databases. Text files are easiest to create, and work well with version control, but then we would have to build search and analysis tools ourselves. Spreadsheets are good for doing simple analyses, but they don’t handle large or complex data sets well. Databases, however, include powerful tools for search and analysis, and can handle large, complex data sets. This workshop will show how to use a PostGreSQL database to explore a (fictitious) expeditions’ data.

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Get data from a PostGreSQL database
• Sort a query’s results
• Remove duplicate values from a query’s results
• Select subsets of data
• Calculate new values on the fly
• Handle missing information
• Calculate sums, averages, and other summary values
• Combine data from multiple tables
• Format data in a database

Prerequisites: Having PostgreSQL 12 installed on your computer. The instructor will send you information on how to do this.

This workshop will be hosted online on Zoom and takes about 2.5 hours. Please use your McGill email address to register for the event. The instructor, Hongyu Zhang will contact you at least one day in advance.