Introduction to SQL and SELECT

SQL (Structured Query Language) is how you talk to a relational database, data organized into tables made of rows and columns. Almost every application with a database uses SQL under the hood.

Imagine a students table:

id	name	xp
1	Ada	120
2	Grace	95
3	Alan	60

Selecting data

SELECT name, xp
FROM students;

SELECT *
FROM students;

SELECT lists the columns you want back, or * for every column.
FROM says which table to read from.
Every statement ends with a semicolon ;.

NOTE

SQL keywords like SELECT and FROM aren't case-sensitive (select works too), but writing them in UPPERCASE is the near-universal convention, it makes queries easier to scan.

Introduction to SQL and SELECT

Selecting data

📝 SQL Basics Quiz