That time my SQL tips and tricks went viral

For as long as I’ve worked as a data analyst I’ve kept a private Github repository which consists solely of a Markdown file with SQL tips and tricks I’ve learnt, like using EXCEPT to find the differences between two data sets or why it’s important to avoid ambiguity when naming calculated fields.

A couple of months ago I decided to make the repo public and was quite surprised
when it went viral.

First it made it to the front page of Hacker News:

And then it was featured in an issue of the Data Elixir newsletter (and became the most clicked article of that issue):

And, of course, the repository stars started coming in:

The folks at /r/SQL and /r/dataengineering also found it of interest, adding their own useful suggestions in the comments thread.

I’m pleased so many people found it useful and it was a nice reminder to publish what you know - someone else might just find it handy!