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SQL Reference

Searchable SQL keyword and function reference with syntax examples

sqlreferencedatabasequerykeywords

Showing 65 of 65 entries across 13 sections

SELECT

Retrieves rows from one or more columns in a table.

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2
FROM table_name;

Example

SELECT first_name, last_name
FROM employees;

SELECT DISTINCT

Returns only unique (non-duplicate) values.

Syntax

SELECT DISTINCT column1
FROM table_name;

Example

SELECT DISTINCT department
FROM employees;

SELECT TOP / LIMIT

Restricts the number of rows returned.

Syntax

-- SQL Server
SELECT TOP 10 * FROM table_name;

-- MySQL / PostgreSQL
SELECT * FROM table_name
LIMIT 10;

Example

SELECT TOP 5 name, salary
FROM employees
ORDER BY salary DESC;

SELECT INTO

Copies rows from one table into a new table.

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2
INTO new_table
FROM source_table
WHERE condition;

Example

SELECT * INTO employees_backup
FROM employees
WHERE active = 1;

WHERE

Filters rows based on a condition. Supports =, <>, <, >, <=, >=, BETWEEN, LIKE, IN, IS NULL, AND, OR, NOT.

Syntax

SELECT * FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

Example

SELECT * FROM employees
WHERE department = 'Engineering'
  AND salary > 80000;

ORDER BY

Sorts the result set. ASC (default) is ascending; DESC is descending.

Syntax

SELECT * FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1 ASC, column2 DESC;

Example

SELECT name, salary
FROM employees
ORDER BY salary DESC, name ASC;

GROUP BY

Groups rows that share the same values in specified columns, used with aggregate functions.

Syntax

SELECT column, AGG_FUNC(col)
FROM table_name
GROUP BY column;

Example

SELECT department, COUNT(*) AS headcount
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

HAVING

Filters groups after GROUP BY (like WHERE but for aggregates).

Syntax

SELECT column, AGG_FUNC(col)
FROM table_name
GROUP BY column
HAVING condition;

Example

SELECT department, COUNT(*) AS headcount
FROM employees
GROUP BY department
HAVING COUNT(*) > 5;

UNION

Combines results of two queries and removes duplicates. Use UNION ALL to keep duplicates.

Syntax

SELECT columns FROM table1
UNION
SELECT columns FROM table2;

Example

SELECT name FROM customers
UNION
SELECT name FROM prospects;

INTERSECT

Returns rows that appear in both result sets.

Syntax

SELECT columns FROM table1
INTERSECT
SELECT columns FROM table2;

Example

SELECT email FROM newsletter_subscribers
INTERSECT
SELECT email FROM customers;

EXCEPT / MINUS

Returns rows in the first query that are not in the second.

Syntax

-- Standard SQL / SQL Server / PostgreSQL
SELECT columns FROM table1
EXCEPT
SELECT columns FROM table2;

-- Oracle
SELECT columns FROM table1
MINUS
SELECT columns FROM table2;

Example

SELECT email FROM all_users
EXCEPT
SELECT email FROM unsubscribed;

INSERT

INSERT INTO

Adds one or more new rows to a table.

Syntax

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2)
VALUES (value1, value2);

Example

INSERT INTO employees (first_name, last_name, department, salary)
VALUES ('Alice', 'Smith', 'Engineering', 95000);

INSERT INTO SELECT

Copies rows from one table and inserts them into another.

Syntax

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2)
SELECT column1, column2
FROM source_table
WHERE condition;

Example

INSERT INTO employees_archive (id, name, department)
SELECT id, name, department
FROM employees
WHERE termination_date IS NOT NULL;

UPDATE

Modifies existing rows. Always include a WHERE clause to avoid updating all rows.

Syntax

UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2
WHERE condition;

Example

UPDATE employees
SET salary = salary * 1.10,
    title = 'Senior Engineer'
WHERE department = 'Engineering'
  AND years_experience >= 5;

DELETE

Removes rows from a table. Always include WHERE to avoid deleting all rows. Can be rolled back.

Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

Example

DELETE FROM employees
WHERE termination_date < '2020-01-01';

TRUNCATE

Removes all rows quickly without logging individual row deletions. Cannot be rolled back in most databases.

Syntax

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;

Example

TRUNCATE TABLE session_logs;

CREATE

CREATE TABLE

Creates a new table with defined columns and data types.

Syntax

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype CONSTRAINT,
  column2 datatype,
  ...
);

Example

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id        INT          PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
  first_name VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
  last_name  VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
  email      VARCHAR(100) UNIQUE,
  salary     DECIMAL(10,2) DEFAULT 0,
  hired_at   DATE
);

CREATE DATABASE

Creates a new database.

Syntax

CREATE DATABASE database_name;

Example

CREATE DATABASE company_db;

CREATE INDEX

Creates an index to speed up queries. UNIQUE prevents duplicate values.

Syntax

CREATE [UNIQUE] INDEX index_name
ON table_name (column1, column2);

Example

CREATE INDEX idx_employees_email
ON employees (email);

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_orders_ref
ON orders (reference_number);

CREATE VIEW

Creates a virtual table based on a saved SELECT statement.

Syntax

CREATE VIEW view_name AS
SELECT columns
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

Example

CREATE VIEW engineering_team AS
SELECT id, first_name, last_name, salary
FROM employees
WHERE department = 'Engineering';

ALTER

ALTER TABLE: ADD COLUMN

Adds a new column to an existing table.

Syntax

ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name datatype;

Example

ALTER TABLE employees
ADD phone VARCHAR(20);

ALTER TABLE: DROP COLUMN

Removes a column from an existing table.

Syntax

ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;

Example

ALTER TABLE employees
DROP COLUMN fax_number;

ALTER TABLE: MODIFY / ALTER COLUMN

Changes the data type or constraints of an existing column.

Syntax

-- MySQL
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN column_name new_datatype;

-- SQL Server / PostgreSQL
ALTER TABLE table_name
ALTER COLUMN column_name new_datatype;

Example

ALTER TABLE employees
MODIFY COLUMN salary DECIMAL(12, 2) NOT NULL;

ALTER TABLE: RENAME

Renames an existing table.

Syntax

-- MySQL
ALTER TABLE old_name
RENAME TO new_name;

-- SQL Server
EXEC sp_rename 'old_name', 'new_name';

Example

ALTER TABLE staff
RENAME TO employees;

DROP

DROP TABLE

Permanently removes a table and all its data. IF EXISTS prevents an error if the table doesn't exist.

Syntax

DROP TABLE [IF EXISTS] table_name;

Example

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS temp_imports;

DROP DATABASE

Permanently removes a database and all its tables and data.

Syntax

DROP DATABASE [IF EXISTS] database_name;

Example

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS legacy_db;

DROP INDEX

Removes an existing index.

Syntax

-- MySQL
DROP INDEX index_name ON table_name;

-- SQL Server / PostgreSQL
DROP INDEX index_name;

Example

DROP INDEX idx_employees_email ON employees;

DROP VIEW

Removes an existing view.

Syntax

DROP VIEW [IF EXISTS] view_name;

Example

DROP VIEW IF EXISTS engineering_team;

JOINs

INNER JOIN

Returns rows where there is a match in both tables.

Syntax

SELECT a.col, b.col
FROM table_a a
INNER JOIN table_b b ON a.id = b.a_id;

Example

SELECT e.first_name, d.department_name
FROM employees e
INNER JOIN departments d ON e.department_id = d.id;

LEFT JOIN

Returns all rows from the left table, and matching rows from the right. Non-matching right-side columns are NULL.

Syntax

SELECT a.col, b.col
FROM table_a a
LEFT JOIN table_b b ON a.id = b.a_id;

Example

SELECT e.first_name, m.first_name AS manager
FROM employees e
LEFT JOIN employees m ON e.manager_id = m.id;

RIGHT JOIN

Returns all rows from the right table, and matching rows from the left. Non-matching left-side columns are NULL.

Syntax

SELECT a.col, b.col
FROM table_a a
RIGHT JOIN table_b b ON a.id = b.a_id;

Example

SELECT e.first_name, d.department_name
FROM employees e
RIGHT JOIN departments d ON e.department_id = d.id;

FULL OUTER JOIN

Returns all rows from both tables. Columns are NULL where no match exists.

Syntax

SELECT a.col, b.col
FROM table_a a
FULL OUTER JOIN table_b b ON a.id = b.a_id;

Example

SELECT c.name, o.order_date
FROM customers c
FULL OUTER JOIN orders o ON c.id = o.customer_id;

CROSS JOIN

Returns the Cartesian product of both tables: every row in A combined with every row in B.

Syntax

SELECT * FROM table_a
CROSS JOIN table_b;

Example

SELECT s.size, c.color
FROM sizes s
CROSS JOIN colors c;

SELF JOIN

Joins a table to itself using aliases, useful for hierarchical data.

Syntax

SELECT a.col, b.col
FROM table_name a
JOIN table_name b ON a.related_id = b.id;

Example

SELECT e.first_name AS employee,
       m.first_name AS manager
FROM employees e
JOIN employees m ON e.manager_id = m.id;

Aggregate Functions

COUNT

Returns the number of rows. COUNT(*) counts all rows; COUNT(col) ignores NULLs.

Syntax

COUNT(*) or COUNT(column_name)

Example

SELECT department, COUNT(*) AS total
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

SUM

Returns the total sum of a numeric column.

Syntax

SUM(column_name)

Example

SELECT department, SUM(salary) AS total_payroll
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

AVG

Returns the average value of a numeric column.

Syntax

AVG(column_name)

Example

SELECT department, AVG(salary) AS avg_salary
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

MIN

Returns the smallest value in a column.

Syntax

MIN(column_name)

Example

SELECT MIN(salary) AS lowest_salary
FROM employees
WHERE department = 'Engineering';

MAX

Returns the largest value in a column.

Syntax

MAX(column_name)

Example

SELECT department, MAX(salary) AS top_salary
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

ROUND

Rounds a number to the specified number of decimal places.

Syntax

ROUND(number, decimal_places)

Example

SELECT first_name,
       ROUND(salary / 12, 2) AS monthly_salary
FROM employees;

COALESCE

Returns the first non-NULL value in the list. Useful for providing defaults.

Syntax

COALESCE(value1, value2, ..., fallback)

Example

SELECT first_name,
       COALESCE(phone, mobile, 'No contact') AS contact
FROM employees;

NULLIF

Returns NULL if both expressions are equal; otherwise returns expression1.

Syntax

NULLIF(expression1, expression2)

Example

-- Avoid division by zero
SELECT total_sales / NULLIF(num_transactions, 0)
FROM daily_stats;

String Functions

UPPER

Converts a string to all uppercase letters.

Syntax

UPPER(string)

Example

SELECT UPPER(first_name) FROM employees;
-- 'alice' → 'ALICE'

LOWER

Converts a string to all lowercase letters.

Syntax

LOWER(string)

Example

SELECT LOWER(email) FROM employees;
-- 'Alice@Example.COM' → 'alice@example.com'

LEN / LENGTH

Returns the number of characters in a string.

Syntax

-- SQL Server
LEN(string)

-- MySQL / PostgreSQL
LENGTH(string)

Example

SELECT first_name, LEN(first_name) AS name_length
FROM employees;

SUBSTRING

Extracts a portion of a string starting at start_pos for length characters.

Syntax

SUBSTRING(string, start_pos, length)
-- or SUBSTR(string, start, length)

Example

SELECT SUBSTRING(phone, 1, 3) AS area_code
FROM employees;
-- '555-123-4567' → '555'

CONCAT

Joins two or more strings together.

Syntax

CONCAT(string1, string2, ...)
-- or string1 || string2  (PostgreSQL / SQLite)

Example

SELECT CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name) AS full_name
FROM employees;

TRIM

Removes leading and/or trailing whitespace (or specified characters) from a string.

Syntax

TRIM([LEADING | TRAILING | BOTH] FROM string)
-- or TRIM(string)

Example

SELECT TRIM(email) AS clean_email
FROM employees;
-- '  alice@example.com  ' → 'alice@example.com'

REPLACE

Replaces all occurrences of a substring within a string.

Syntax

REPLACE(string, old_substring, new_substring)

Example

SELECT REPLACE(phone, '-', '') AS phone_digits
FROM employees;
-- '555-123-4567' → '5551234567'

LIKE

Pattern matching operator. % matches any sequence; _ matches one character. Use NOT LIKE for inverse.

Syntax

column LIKE pattern
-- % = any sequence of characters
-- _ = exactly one character

Example

SELECT * FROM employees
WHERE email LIKE '%@example.com';

SELECT * FROM employees
WHERE first_name LIKE 'A_i%';

Date Functions

NOW()

Returns the current date and time.

Syntax

NOW() -- or GETDATE() (SQL Server) / CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT NOW() AS current_datetime;
-- 2024-03-15 14:30:00

CURDATE / CURRENT_DATE

Returns the current date without the time component.

Syntax

CURDATE()            -- MySQL
CURRENT_DATE         -- PostgreSQL / Standard SQL
CAST(GETDATE() AS DATE)  -- SQL Server

Example

SELECT * FROM orders
WHERE order_date = CURDATE();

DATEADD

Adds a time interval to a date.

Syntax

-- SQL Server
DATEADD(interval, number, date)

-- MySQL
DATE_ADD(date, INTERVAL number unit)

-- PostgreSQL
date + INTERVAL 'n unit'

Example

-- SQL Server
SELECT DATEADD(day, 30, order_date) AS due_date
FROM orders;

-- MySQL
SELECT DATE_ADD(order_date, INTERVAL 30 DAY) AS due_date
FROM orders;

DATEDIFF

Returns the number of days between two dates.

Syntax

-- SQL Server / MySQL
DATEDIFF(end_date, start_date)

-- PostgreSQL
end_date - start_date

Example

SELECT DATEDIFF(NOW(), hired_at) AS days_employed
FROM employees;

DATE_FORMAT / FORMAT

Formats a date value as a string using format patterns.

Syntax

-- MySQL
DATE_FORMAT(date, format_string)

-- SQL Server
FORMAT(date, format_string)

-- PostgreSQL
TO_CHAR(date, format_string)

Example

-- MySQL
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(hired_at, '%d %M %Y') AS hire_date
FROM employees;
-- '15 March 2024'

Constraints

PRIMARY KEY

Uniquely identifies each row. Cannot be NULL. A table can have only one primary key (which may span multiple columns).

Syntax

-- Inline
column_name datatype PRIMARY KEY

-- Table-level
PRIMARY KEY (col1, col2)

Example

CREATE TABLE orders (
  order_id   INT         PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
  order_date DATE        NOT NULL
);

FOREIGN KEY

Enforces referential integrity between two tables. Options: CASCADE, SET NULL, RESTRICT, NO ACTION.

Syntax

FOREIGN KEY (column_name)
REFERENCES other_table (column_name)
  ON DELETE CASCADE
  ON UPDATE CASCADE

Example

CREATE TABLE orders (
  order_id    INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT,
  FOREIGN KEY (customer_id)
    REFERENCES customers (id)
    ON DELETE CASCADE
);

UNIQUE

Ensures all values in a column (or combination of columns) are distinct.

Syntax

column_name datatype UNIQUE
-- or UNIQUE (col1, col2) at table level

Example

CREATE TABLE users (
  id    INT  PRIMARY KEY,
  email TEXT UNIQUE
);

NOT NULL

Prevents NULL values from being stored in a column.

Syntax

column_name datatype NOT NULL

Example

CREATE TABLE products (
  id    INT          PRIMARY KEY,
  name  VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  price DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL
);

CHECK

Ensures that values in a column satisfy a specified condition.

Syntax

CHECK (condition)

Example

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id     INT PRIMARY KEY,
  salary DECIMAL(10,2) CHECK (salary >= 0),
  age    INT CHECK (age BETWEEN 16 AND 120)
);

DEFAULT

Provides a default value inserted when no value is specified.

Syntax

column_name datatype DEFAULT default_value

Example

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id         INT PRIMARY KEY,
  status     VARCHAR(20)  DEFAULT 'pending',
  created_at TIMESTAMP    DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Transactions

BEGIN / START TRANSACTION

Marks the start of an explicit transaction. All subsequent statements are part of the transaction until COMMIT or ROLLBACK.

Syntax

-- SQL Server
BEGIN TRANSACTION;

-- MySQL / PostgreSQL
START TRANSACTION;

Example

START TRANSACTION;
UPDATE accounts SET balance = balance - 500 WHERE id = 1;
UPDATE accounts SET balance = balance + 500 WHERE id = 2;

COMMIT

Permanently saves all changes made within the current transaction.

Syntax

COMMIT;

Example

START TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO orders (customer_id, total) VALUES (42, 199.99);
COMMIT;

ROLLBACK

Undoes all changes made in the current transaction (or back to a named savepoint).

Syntax

ROLLBACK;
-- or
ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;

Example

START TRANSACTION;
DELETE FROM orders WHERE id = 99;
-- Something went wrong
ROLLBACK;

SAVEPOINT

Creates a named point within a transaction you can roll back to without aborting the entire transaction.

Syntax

SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;
-- later:
ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;
RELEASE SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;

Example

START TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO log (msg) VALUES ('start');
SAVEPOINT after_log;
DELETE FROM temp_data;
-- Undo only the delete:
ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT after_log;
COMMIT;

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Step-by-step guide to looking up SQL syntax for SELECT, JOIN, aggregate functions, and more using the DevHexLab SQL Reference.

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SQL Reference: Core Commands, Clauses and Functions Explained

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