One of the findings in the 2019 Analytics in Middle Tennessee Report produced by Amy Harris in conjunction with the NTC was that the analytics skill most in demand by companies seeking to hire is SQL. 

As an experiment, we challenged students in the first full-time data analytics bootcamp to continue practicing SQL even after we had finished that section of the curriculum. We told the class that any of them who could achieve a kyu of 6 or less on the codewars site would get a free lunch and be inducted into the NSS SQL Illuminati.

Coders begin on the codewars site with a kyu level of 8, and work their way to the top by solving challenges in the language of their choice. After writing code that passes a few preliminary tests, coders submit their solutions and – if they pass all the final tests – they are awarded points and get to see other coders’ solutions. It’s a fantastic way to learn and improve.

We are going to call the experiment a success! Nearly half of the class achieved a kyu level 6 in SQL, and two students even achieved level 5! We’ll be challenging future data analytics and data science students and look forward to buying many more lunches.