Term: SELECT

Definition:
The SELECT statement retrieves or extracts information from tables in the database. Using the SELECT statement, you can choose the rows in a table that you want returned from a query by specifying values to match the rows that you want to see (or don't want to see).

Basic Select statement:
In its simplest form a SELECT statement must contain the following:

A SELECT clause, which specifies the COLUMNs containing the values to be matched against.
A FROM clause, which specifies the TABLE containing the COLUMNs listed in the SELECT clause.

Example SELECT Statement:

SELECT * FROM users 

WHERE name = 'john'

The example above retrieves all rows from the table 'users' where the 'name' column contains the text 'john'.

You can also use the JOIN capability in the SELECT clause to bring together data that is stored in two or more tables. You do this by matching and/or or comparing columns in the tables you are SELECTing from.

A SELECT statement almost always includes the WHERE clause, which applies one or more conditions to match against the column(s) in the table. The WHERE clause allows you to screen or filter for only the rows you want.

Related Code Snippets:

INSERT with Select - Basic Insert with Select example with a subquery.
Inserting into SELECT statement - You can use a select-statement within an INSERT statement to ins...
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SELECT placement - SELECT statements can be placed almost anywhere within a valid SQL code block.
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SELECT with WHERE Clause - The WHERE clause is used to screen or filter records for specific matches.
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SELECT with HAVING Clause - The HAVING clause was added to SQL because the WHERE keyword can not b...
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SELECT: Get DISTINCT or UNIQUE values - The UNIQUE command retrieves only unique data entries depe...
SELECT: Using Functions - SELECT allows the use of functions within its scope, as shown by the use...
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Selecting a Random Row - Sometimes all you need is a random row. This will do it for you.