The Most Important SQL Queries for Beginners

You can also use this dropdown to change database instead of using the USE
statement. There are 3 different data series shown in different colors. We are looking for a query to obtain the length of each data series. The first data series starts on Jan 25 and has a length of 3 elements, the second one starts on Jan 30 and its length is 4, and so on. How to Use CASE in SQL explains other examples of CASE statements like the one used in this query. Insert the missing statement to get all the columns from the Customers table.

To sort data according to a column, place the column name after ORDER BY. The default sorting method is alphabetical, but you can also display rows in descending order by adding DESC after the name of the column. In this example, we want to sort the data in columns id and name according to the column name.

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We will also be able to work with multiple tables already created. Each column in a database table is required to have a name and a data type. You can find the maximum value stored in a column using MAX. In this example, the query returns the maximum price among the products. You can find the minimum value stored in a column using MIN. In this example, the query returns the minimum price among the products.

SQL can perform various tasks like creating a table, adding data to tables, dropping the table, modifying the table, set permission for users. Sometimes we need to create a SQL query to show a ranking of rows based on a specific order criteria. In this example query, we will show a list of all employees ordered by salary (highest salary first).

SQL Data Types for MySQL, SQL Server, and MS Access

These 20 basic queries are a must in a starter pack for every SQL beginner. These examples will get you going on your journey to mastering SQL. If we want to order data by a column, the order by is very useful. The following example will show how to show the
BusinessEntityID sorted in descending order. Let’s start with the SELECT sentence, the select sentence will allow us to get data from a table.

  • In this example, we want to retrieve all rows with last names from the table customer and all rows with last names from the table employee.
  • Also, when the condition is not a number but a text or a date/time, it has to be written in single quotes (”).
  • RIGHT JOIN it’s the opposite of LEFT JOIN, returning all records from the right table and matched records from the left table.
  • The beginner courses cover the foundations of SQL and are a perfect way to review and refresh your basic SQL knowledge.

The first column shows the total salary for the Sales and Human Resources departments. This value is calculated using the SUM() function on the salary column – but only when the employee belongs to the Sales or Human Resources department. A zero is added to the sum when the employee belongs to any other department.

Using SUM() and GROUP BY

Although MERGE can be useful, it has some disadvantages. Since everything is
done in one single step, it’s hard to figure out how many rows have exactly
been affected by which operation. There are also several bugs with the MERGE statement which still aren’t
fixed at the time of writing. Aaron Bertrand goes into detail in some of the issues
in the tip
Use Caution with SQL Server’s MERGE Statement. Actually, when people talk about “querying with SQL”, they usually
mean selecting data from one or more database objects using the SELECT statement. With the SELECT statement of the previous example, we have “queried the HelloWorld
table”.

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Example #1 – Ranking Rows Based on a Specific Ordering Criteria

A running total is a very common SQL pattern, one that’s used frequently in finance and in trend analysis. With our online SQL editor, you can edit the SQL basic sql queries statements, and click on a button to view the result. If you already know the basics of SQL, our SQL Basic Cheat Sheet is a handy reference resource.

Types of SQL queries

Usually, those are the columns that store the same data in both tables. In other words, we join the tables on the primary and foreign keys. A primary key is a column (or columns) that uniquely defines each row in the table. A foreign key is a column in the second table that refers to the first table.

The output shows all five employees whose sales were above $5,000 in the last three months of 2022. This query wants to show each employee’s ID and name, together with their total sales in 2022. What’s shown in the brackets can be omitted in the query and the join will work without it. Now, use WHERE to include only employees with salaries higher than $3500 in the counting. The purpose of the above query is to find the total salary amount for each department.

Types of SQL queries

The report will include the position of each employee in the ranking. All this tells us that this table is a list of a company’s employees and their salaries. All employees work in the sales division, where the department can be either Corporate or Private Individuals. In other words, the employees sell the company’s products to companies and private individuals. As a result, we will obtain a list of employees that appear in both tables.

This query uses the aggregate function SUM() with GROUP BY. In SQL, aggregate functions work on groups of data; for example, SUM(sales) shows the total of all the values in the sales column. It’s useful to know about this function when you want to put data into groups and show the total for each group. Now, we need to show only employees with a salary above 3,800. It’s a clause that accepts conditions and is used for filtering the output. It goes through the table and returns only the data that satisfies the condition.

Types of SQL queries

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