Part 1 – Installation
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lau Tzu
Ok, so you’ve decided to check out some SQL. Let’s get you set up.
Click right here and get yourself a copy of SQL Server Developer Edition, straight from Microsoft. This is a free version of the SQL Server Enterprise software that can be used for educational or development purposes. Yay free!
Once the download completes, we’re going to install it as follows:
Select the Basic install option.

Accept the legal jumbo. Or read it. Some people like pain.

Pick an install location, probably a folder somewhere out of the way.

Let it cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Great success! But we aren’t quite finished yet. We still need to install a tool to interface with our new database software. The default tool for this is SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). You can see a link to install it below:

Or go ahead and click right here to download the latest version directly.
You know the drill by now, just install and let it cook:


And that’s it! You now have a fully functional SQL Server installation on your machine. In the next post, we’ll start using it to build a database.
Stay Tuned!