SQL - Syntax

SQL is followed by unique set of rules and guidelines called Syntax. This tutorial gives you a quick start with SQL by listing all the basic SQL Syntax:

All the SQL statements start with any of the keywords like SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, DROP, CREATE, USE, SHOW and all the statements end with a semicolon (;).

Important point to be noted is that SQL is case insensitive, which means SELECT and select have same meaning in SQL statements, but MySQL makes difference in table names. So if you are working with MySQL, then you need to give table names as they exist in the database.

All the examples given in this tutorial have been tested with MySQL server.

SQL SELECT Statement:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name;

SQL DISTINCT Clause:

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name;

SQL WHERE Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION;

SQL AND/OR Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION-1 {AND|OR} CONDITION-2;

SQL IN Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  column_name IN (val-1, val-2,...val-N);

SQL BETWEEN Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  column_name BETWEEN val-1 AND val-2;

SQL LIKE Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  column_name LIKE { PATTERN };

SQL ORDER BY Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION
ORDER BY column_name {ASC|DESC};

SQL GROUP BY Clause:

SELECT SUM(column_name)
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION
GROUP BY column_name;

SQL COUNT Clause:

SELECT COUNT(column_name)
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION;

SQL HAVING Clause:

SELECT SUM(column_name)
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION
GROUP BY column_name
HAVING (arithematic function condition);

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement:

CREATE TABLE table_name(
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
.....
columnN datatype,
PRIMARY KEY( one or more columns )
);

SQL DROP TABLE Statement:

DROP TABLE table_name;

SQL CREATE INDEX Statement :

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name
ON table_name ( column1, column2,...columnN);

SQL DROP INDEX Statement :

ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP INDEX index_name;

SQL DESC Statement :

DESC table_name;

SQL TRUNCATE TABLE Statement:

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;

SQL ALTER TABLE Statement:

ALTER TABLE table_name {ADD|DROP|MODIFY} column_name {data_ype};

SQL ALTER TABLE Statement (Rename) :

ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME TO new_table_name;

SQL INSERT INTO Statement:

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

SQL UPDATE Statement:

UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2....columnN=valueN
[ WHERE  CONDITION ];

SQL DELETE Statement:

DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE  {CONDITION};

SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement:

CREATE DATABASE database_name;

SQL DROP DATABASE Statement:

DROP DATABASE database_name;

SQL USE Statement:

USE database_name;

SQL COMMIT Statement:

COMMIT;

SQL ROLLBACK Statement:

ROLLBACK;