List of SQL Commands

SELECT
SELECT is probably the most commonly-used SQL statement. You'll use it pretty much every time you query data

with SQL. It allows you to define what data you want your query to return.

For example, in the code below, we’re selecting a column called name from a table called customers.

SELECT name

FROM customers;

SELECT *
SELECT used with an asterisk (*) will return all of the columns in the table we're querying.
SELECT * FROM customers;

SELECT DISTINCT
SELECT DISTINCT only returns data that is distinct — in other words, if there are duplicate records, it will return only

one copy of each.

The code below would return only rows with a unique name from the customers table.

SELECT DISTINCT name

FROM customers;

SELECT INTO
SELECT INTO copies the specified data from one table into another.

SELECT * INTO customers

FROM customers_backup;

SELECT TOP
SELECT TOP only returns the top x number or percent from a table.

The code below would return the top 50 results from the customers table:
SELECT TOP 50 * FROM customers;

The code below would return the top 50 percent of the customers table:
SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT * FROM customers;

AS
AS renames a column or table with an alias that we can choose. For example, in the code below, we’re renaming

the name column as first_name:

SELECT name AS first_name

FROM customers;

FROM
FROM specifies the table we're pulling our data from:

SELECT name

FROM customers;

WHERE
WHERE filters your query to only return results that match a set condition. We can use this together with conditional

operators like =, >, <, >=, <=, etc.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name = ‘Bob’;

AND
AND combines two or more conditions in a single query. All of the conditions must be met for the result to be

returned.

SELECT name

FROM customers
 WHERE name = ‘Bob’ AND age = 55;

OR
OR combines two or more conditions in a single query. Only one of the conditions must be met for a result to be

returned.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name = ‘Bob’ OR age = 55;

BETWEEN
BETWEEN filters your query to return only results that fit a specified range.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE age BETWEEN 45 AND 55;

LIKE
LIKE searches for a specified pattern in a column. In the example code below, any row with a name that included the

characters Bob would be returned.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name LIKE ‘%Bob%’;

Other operators for LIKE:

 %x — will select all values that begin with x

 %x% — will select all values that include x
 x% — will select all values that end with x
 x%y — will select all values that begin with x and end with y
 _x% — will select all values have x as the second character
 x_% — will select all values that begin with x and are at least two characters long. You can add additional
_ characters to extend the length requirement, i.e. x___%
IN
IN allows us to specify multiple values we want to select for when using the WHERE command.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name IN (‘Bob’, ‘Fred’, ‘Harry’);

IS NULL
IS NULL will return only rows with a NULL value.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name IS NULL;

IS NOT NULL
IS NOT NULL does the opposite — it will return only rows without a NULL value.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE name IS NOT NULL;

CREATE
CREATE can be used to set up a database, table, index or view.

CREATE DATABASE
CREATE DATABASE creates a new database, assuming the user running the command has the correct admin

rights.
CREATE DATABASE dataquestDB;

CREATE TABLE
CREATE TABLE creates a new table inside a database. The terms int and varchar(255) in this example specify the

datatypes of the columns we're creating.

CREATE TABLE customers (

customer_id int,

name varchar(255),

age int

);

CREATE INDEX
CREATE INDEX generates an index for a table. Indexes are used to retrieve data from a database faster.

CREATE INDEX idx_name

ON customers (name);

CREATE VIEW
CREATE VIEW creates a virtual table based on the result set of an SQL statement. A view is like a regular table (and

can be queried like one), but it is not saved as a permanent table in the database.

CREATE VIEW [Bob Customers] AS

SELECT name, age

FROM customers

WHERE name = ‘Bob’;

DROP
DROP statements can be used to delete entire databases, tables or indexes.

It goes without saying that the DROP command should only be used where absolutely necessary.

DROP DATABASE
DROP DATABASE deletes the entire database including all of its tables, indexes etc as well as all the data within it.

Again, this is a command we want to be very, very careful about using!

DROP DATABASE dataquestDB;

DROP TABLE
DROP TABLE deletes a table as well as the data within it.
DROP TABLE customers;

DROP INDEX
DROP INDEX deletes an index within a database.
DROP INDEX idx_name;

UPDATE
The UPDATE statement is used to update data in a table. For example, the code below would update the age of any

customer named Bob in the customers table to 56.

UPDATE customers

SET age = 56

WHERE name = ‘Bob’;

DELETE
DELETE can remove all rows from a table (using ), or can be used as part of a WHERE clause to delete rows that

meet a specific condition.

DELETE FROM customers

WHERE name = ‘Bob’;

ALTER TABLE
ALTER TABLE allows you to add or remove columns from a table. In the code snippets below, we’ll add and then

remove a column for surname. The text varchar(255) specifies the datatype of the column.

ALTER TABLE customers

ADD surname varchar(255);

ALTER TABLE customers

DROP COLUMN surname;

AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS (COUNT/SUM/AVG/MIN/MAX)

An aggregate function performs a calculation on a set of values and returns a single result.

COUNT
COUNT returns the number of rows that match the specified criteria. In the code below, we’re using *, so the total

row count for customers would be returned.

SELECT COUNT(*)

FROM customers;

SUM
SUM returns the total sum of a numeric column.

SELECT SUM(age)

FROM customers;

AVG
AVG returns the average value of a numeric column.

SELECT AVG(age)

FROM customers;

MIN
MIN returns the minimum value of a numeric column.

SELECT MIN(age)

FROM customers;

MAX
MAX returns the maximum value of a numeric column.

SELECT MAX(age)

FROM customers;

GROUP BY
The GROUP BY statement groups rows with the same values into summary rows. The statement is often used with

aggregate functions. For example, the code below will display the average age for each name that appears in

our customers table.

SELECT name, AVG(age)

FROM customers

GROUP BY name;

HAVING
HAVING performs the same action as the WHERE clause. The difference is that HAVING is used for aggregate

functions, whereas WHERE doesn’t work with them.

The below example would return the number of rows for each name, but only for names with more than 2 records.

SELECT COUNT(customer_id), name

FROM customers

GROUP BY name

HAVING COUNT(customer_id) > 2;

ORDER BY
ORDER BY sets the order of the returned results. The order will be ascending by default.

SELECT name

FROM customers

ORDER BY age;

DESC
DESC will return the results in descending order.
SELECT name

FROM customers

ORDER BY age DESC;

OFFSET
The OFFSET statement works with ORDER BY and specifies the number of rows to skip before starting to return

rows from the query.

SELECT name

FROM customers

ORDER BY age

OFFSET 10 ROWS;

FETCH
FETCH specifies the number of rows to return after the OFFSET clause has been processed. The OFFSET clause is

mandatory, while the FETCH clause is optional.

SELECT name

FROM customers

ORDER BY age

OFFSET 10 ROWS

FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY;

JOINS (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL)

A JOIN clause is used to combine rows from two or more tables. The four types of JOIN are INNER, LEFT, RIGHT

and FULL.

INNER JOIN
INNER JOIN selects records that have matching values in both tables.

SELECT name

FROM customers

INNER JOIN orders

ON customers.customer_id = orders.customer_id;

LEFT JOIN
LEFT JOIN selects records from the left table that match records in the right table. In the below example the left table

is customers.

SELECT name

FROM customers

LEFT JOIN orders

ON customers.customer_id = orders.customer_id;

RIGHT JOIN
RIGHT JOIN selects records from the right table that match records in the left table. In the below example the right

table is orders.

SELECT name

FROM customers

RIGHT JOIN orders

ON customers.customer_id = orders.customer_id;

FULL JOIN
FULL JOIN selects records that have a match in the left or right table. Think of it as the “OR” JOIN compared with the

“AND” JOIN (INNER JOIN).

SELECT name

FROM customers

FULL OUTER JOIN orders

ON customers.customer_id = orders.customer_id;

EXISTS
EXISTS is used to test for the existence of any record in a subquery.

SELECT name

FROM customers

WHERE EXISTS

(SELECT order FROM ORDERS WHERE customer_id = 1);

GRANT
GRANT gives a particular user access to database objects such as tables, views or the database itself. The below

example would give SELECT and UPDATE access on the customers table to a user named “usr_bob”.
GRANT SELECT, UPDATE ON customers TO usr_bob;

REVOKE
REVOKE removes a user's permissions for a particular database object.
REVOKE SELECT, UPDATE ON customers FROM usr_bob;

SAVEPOINT
SAVEPOINT allows you to identify a point in a transaction to which you can later roll back. Similar to creating a

backup.
SAVEPOINT SAVEPOINT_NAME;

COMMIT
COMMIT is for saving every transaction to the database. A COMMIT statement will release any existing savepoints

that may be in use and once the statement is issued, you cannot roll back the transaction.

DELETE FROM customers

WHERE name = ‘Bob’;

COMMIT

ROLLBACK
ROLLBACK is used to undo transactions which are not saved to the database. This can only be used to undo

transactions since the last COMMIT or ROLLBACK command was issued. You can also rollback to a SAVEPOINT

that has been created before.

ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT_NAME;

TRUNCATE
TRUNCATE TABLE removes all data entries from a table in a database, but keeps the table and structure in place.

Similar to DELETE.
TRUNCATE TABLE customers;

UNION
UNION combines multiple result-sets using two or more SELECT statements and eliminates duplicate rows.

SELECT name FROM customersUNIONSELECT name FROM orders;

UNION ALL
UNION ALL combines multiple result-sets using two or more SELECT statements and keeps duplicate rows.

SELECT name FROM customers

UNION

SELECT name FROM orders;