Unlock the power of MySQL SELECT! Navigate the SQL landscape with clear examples and step-by-step explanations, mastering the SELECT statement for efficient database querying.
The SELECT
statement is used to select data from a database.
The data returned is stored in a result table, called the result-set.
SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name;
Here, column1, column2, ... are the field names of the table you want to select data from. If you want to select all the fields available in the table, use the following syntax:
SELECT * FROM table_name;
In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database.
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:
CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alfreds Futterkiste | Maria Anders | Obere Str. 57 | Berlin | 12209 | Germany |
2 | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021 | Mexico |
3 | Antonio Moreno Taquería | Antonio Moreno | Mataderos 2312 | México D.F. | 05023 | Mexico |
4 | Around the Horn | Thomas Hardy | 120 Hanover Sq. | London | WA1 1DP | UK |
5 | Berglunds snabbköp | Christina Berglund | Berguvsvägen 8 | Luleå | S-958 22 | Sweden |
The following SQL statement selects the "CustomerName", "City", and "Country" columns from the "Customers" table:
SELECT CustomerName, City, Country FROM Customers;
The following SQL statement selects ALL the columns from the "Customers" table:
SELECT * FROM Customers;
The SELECT DISTINCT
statement is used to return only distinct (different) values.
Inside a table, a column often contains many duplicate values; and sometimes you only want to list the different (distinct) values.
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name;
The following SQL statement selects all (including the duplicates) values from the "Country" column in the "Customers" table:
SELECT Country FROM Customers;
Now, let us use the SELECT DISTINCT
statement and see the result.
The following SQL statement selects only the DISTINCT values from the "Country" column in the "Customers" table:
SELECT DISTINCT Country FROM Customers;
The following SQL statement counts and returns the number of different (distinct) countries in the "Customers" table:
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Country) FROM Customers;
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