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 make difference in table names. So if you are working with MySQL then you need to give table names as they exist in the database. 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 database_name; SQL COMMIT Statement: COMMIT; SQL ROLLBACK Statement: ROLLBACK;