Teach Real SQL.
SQLite and PostgreSQL.
Both engines run inside the browser tab. Alps reads the dialect from the student’s own SQL, opens the right database, and keeps it alive as they work — so an INSERT in one exercise is still there in the next.
No database server to stand up, no connection string to hand out, no accounts to provision. A student opens the page and runs a query — on a Chromebook, on an iPad, offline.
Two Databases. One Browser Tab.
A short loop: SQLite is detected and runs → a second run queries rows the first one inserted → a new file joins in → the SQL turns into PostgreSQL and the engine follows.
A scripted walkthrough of the in-browser editor — not a live database on this page.
A Real Database, Not a Simulator
Students run genuine SQLite and PostgreSQL. What Alps removes is everything that usually stands between a class and its first query.
Two Dialects, Both Real
SQLite for a first course, PostgreSQL when the syllabus needs window functions, SERIAL, or generate_series. Not a shim — PostgreSQL itself, compiled to WebAssembly.
Detected, Not Configured
Alps reads the dialect from the SQL itself and from any shipped database file. Nobody picks an engine from a menu — though one click overrides it when a student wants to.
The Database Stays Live
Insert or update rows, then query them straight back. The database is still open between runs, so students see cause and effect instead of a fresh copy every time.
One Database Per Page
Every exercise on a textbook page shares one database, so a chapter can build a single story — create a schema at the top, and still be querying it at the bottom.
Scripts Across Files
Split work into several .sql files and run one, or run them all in order as a single script. Same database throughout — nothing is lost between files.
Ship a Starting Database
Attach a ready-made database to an exercise and students open it already populated — no import step, no setup script, no first-day data-loading lesson.
Where a Query Runs
| Feature | In the Browser | On the Server |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Instant — nothing leaves the tab | A round trip per run |
| Works offline | ||
| Database stays live across exercises | Fresh database each run | |
| Result grids | ||
| Start from a shipped database | ||
| Same engine, same answers |
The browser is the default and covers a whole course on its own. Server execution is there for the cases that need it — and because a dialect uses the same engine in both places, a query that works in one works in the other.
SQL Curricula, Ready to Teach
Interactive editions where every query on the page is editable and runnable.
Teaching from your own SQL material? Alps can onboard any book as an interactive course. We work with publishers and support licensed editions. Get in touch.
Put a Database in Every Student’s Browser
SQLite and PostgreSQL, detected automatically and running in the tab — nothing to install, nothing to connect to. Start with the free Educator Basic tier.