Introduction to 

SQL

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SQL is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases.

What is SQL?

 SQL stands for Structured Query Language

 SQL lets you access and manipulate databases
 SQL became a standard of the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) in 1986, and of the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) in 1987

What Can SQL do?

 SQL can execute queries against a database

 SQL can retrieve data from a database
 SQL can insert records in a database
 SQL can update records in a database
 SQL can delete records from a database
 SQL can create new databases
 SQL can create new tables in a database
 SQL can create stored procedures in a database
 SQL can create views in a database
 SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

SQL is a Standard - BUT....

Although SQL is an ANSI/ISO standard, there are different versions of the SQL
language.

However, to be compliant with the ANSI standard, they all support at least the
major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a
similar manner.

Note: Most of the SQL database programs also have their own proprietary
extensions in addition to the SQL standard!

Using SQL in Your Web Site

To build a web site that shows data from a database, you will need:

 An RDBMS database program (i.e. MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL)

 To use a server-side scripting language, like PHP or ASP
 To use SQL to get the data you want
 To use HTML / CSS to style the page

RDBMS

RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System.

RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems such as MS
SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access.

The data in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables. A table is a

collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.

Look at the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers;

Try it Yourself »
Every table is broken up into smaller entities called fields. The fields in the
Customers table consist of CustomerID, CustomerName, ContactName, Address,
City, PostalCode and Country. A field is a column in a table that is designed to
maintain specific information about every record in the table.

A record, also called a row, is each individual entry that exists in a table. For
example, there are 91 records in the above Customers table. A record is a
horizontal entity in a table.

A column is a vertical entity in a table that contains all information associated with
a specific field in a table.

Database Tables

A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a
name (e.g. "Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.

In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database (included in
MS Access and MS SQL Server).

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table:

CustomerI CustomerNam ContactNam Address City PostalCod Country

D e e e

1 Alfreds Maria Anders Obere Str. 57 Berlin 12209 German

Futterkiste y

2 Ana Trujillo Ana Trujillo Avda. de la México 05021 Mexico

Emparedados y Constitución D.F.
helados 2222

3 Antonio Moreno Antonio Mataderos México 05023 Mexico

 Taquería Moreno 2312 D.F.

4 Around the Thomas 120 Hanover London WA1 1DP UK

Horn Hardy Sq.

5 Berglunds Christina Berguvsväge Luleå S-958 22 Sweden

snabbköp Berglund n8

The table above contains five records (one for each customer) and seven columns
(CustomerID, CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, and
Country).

SQL Statements

Most of the actions you need to perform on a database are done with SQL
statements.

The following SQL statement selects all the records in the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers;
Try it Yourself »

In this tutorial we will teach you all about the different SQL statements.

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Keep in Mind That...

 SQL keywords are NOT case sensitive: select is the same as SELECT

In this tutorial we will write all SQL keywords in upper-case.

Semicolon after SQL Statements?

Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.

Semicolon is the standard way to separate each SQL statement in database systems
that allow more than one SQL statement to be executed in the same call to the
server.

In this tutorial, we will use semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.

Some of The Most Important SQL Commands

 SELECT - extracts data from a database

 UPDATE - updates data in a database
 DELETE - deletes data from a database
 INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
 CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database
 ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
 CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
 ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
 DROP TABLE - deletes a table
 CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
 DROP INDEX - deletes an index

SQL SELECT Statement

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The SQL SELECT Statement
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 Syntax
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;

Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

C Cu C A C P

ustom stomerNa ontactN ddress ity ostalC ount

erID me ame ode ry

1 Alf M O B 1

reds aria bere Str. erli 2209 erma

Futterkiste Anders 57 n ny

2 An A A M 0
 a Trujillo na vda. de éxic 5021 exico

Empareda Trujillo la o

dos y Constitu D.F.

helados ción

2222

3 An A M M 0

tonio ntonio ataderos éxic 5023 exico

Moreno Moreno 2312 o

Taquería D.F.

4 Ar T 1 L W

ound the homas 20 ond A1 1DP K

Horn Hardy Hanover on

Sq.

5 Be C B L S

rglunds hristina erguvsvä ule -958 wede

snabbköp Berglund gen 8 å 22 n

SELECT Column Example

 The following SQL statement selects the "CustomerName" and "City" columns from the
"Customers" table:

Example
SELECT CustomerName, City FROM Customers;

Try it Yourself »

SELECT * Example
The following SQL statement selects all the columns from the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers;

Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Insert the missing statement to get all the columns from the Customers table.

* FROM Customers;

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise