Updated May 10, 2023
Introduction to MySQL Queries
There are many kinds of SQL commands which can be categorized into the following:
- DDL (Data definition language)
- DML (Data manipulation language)
- DQL (Data query language)
- DCL (Data control language)
- TCL (Transaction control language)
In this article on MySQL Queries. We will discuss mostly DQL, which is “Data Query Language”. This comes into play when we try to fetch records from the database, starting with the “SELECT” command. Apart from this, we will also discuss the brief significance of other categories.
Types of MySQL Queries
Following are the five types of Queries are:
DDL
When we perform any changes to the physical structure of the table in the database, we need DDL commands. CREATE, ALTER, RENAME, DROP, TRUNCATE, etc commands come into this category. Those commands can’t be rolled back.
1. CREATE: It is used to create a table or database.
Query:
CREATE table employee;2. ALTER: Used to modify or change values in the table.
Query:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD COLUMN col_name;3. RENAME: Rename the table or database name.
Query:
ALTER TABLE table_name
RENAME COLUMN col_name TO new_col_name;4. DROP: This removes records of a table as well as the structure of a table. This can’t be rolled back/undo
Query:
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS table_name;5. TRUNCATE: This empties the records only and leaves the structure for future records.
Query:
TRUNCATE TABLE employee;DML
As we can see, the name is Data Manipulation language, so once the tables/database are created, we require DML commands to manipulate something inside that stuff. The merits of using these commands are if any wrong changes happen, we can roll back/undo it.
1. INSERT: Used to insert new rows into the table.
Query:
INSERT into employee
Values(101,'abcd');2. DELETE: Delete a single row or entire record in a table.
Query:
DELETE TABLE employee;3. UPDATE: Used to update existing records in a table.
Query:
UPDATE employee
SET col1 = new_col
WHERE condition;4. MERGE: Used to merge two rows.
DCL
It grants or revokes access of users to the database.
1. GRANT: Provides access to the users
Query:
GRANT CREATE table to user;2. REVOKE: Take access back from the users
Query:
REVOKE CREATE table from user;TCL
This manages the issues related to the transaction in any database. This is used to rollback or commit in the database.
1. ROLLBACK: Used to cancel or undo changes made in the database
Query:
ROLLBACK;2. COMMIT: Used to deploy changes in the database
Query:
COMMIT;DQL
Data query language consists of only the SELECT command by which we can retrieve and fetch data based on some conditions provided. Many clauses of SQL are used with this command for retrieval of filtered data.
1. SELECT: Used to fetch all the records from a table
Query:
SELECT * FROM table;2. DISTINCT: Used to fetch all the unique values from a table
Query:
SELECT DISTINCT col_name FROM table;3. WHERE: Used forgiving conditions in the retrieval of records
Query:
SELECT employee_id FROM employee
WHERE name = 'stella';4. COUNT: Used to get the number of records present in a table
Query:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employee;5. ORDER BY: Used to sort numeric and string values in ascending or descending manner. But by default, it sorts in an ascending way. If we want it in descending, we need to specify it after using the ORDER BY clause.
Query:
SELECT first_name FROM student
ORDER BY marks desc;6. LIMIT: This is used to specify the number of records we want after executing the query. If we wish to the top 5 students of a class, then after sorting the results, we can use this LIMIT by specifying five so that it will only fetch the top 5 records.
Query:
SELECT first_name FROM student
ORDER BY marks desc
LIMIT 5;(**ORDER BY used here for sorting value in descending order)
7. AND: If two conditions are given, and both are met for a record, then only the query will fetch that record.
Query:
SELECT employee_id FROM employee
WHERE name = 'stella' AND city = 'Bangalore';8. OR: If two conditions are given, and one is met for a record, then that record will be fetched.
Query:
SELECT employee_id FROM employee
WHERE department = 'IT' OR city = 'Bangalore';9. NOT: Used with conditions. Suppose we specify NOT before any conditions; records not meeting those conditions will be fetched.
Query:
SELECT employee_id FROM employee
WHERE NOT BETWEEN 1 AND 10;10. BETWEEN: This operator selects records within a given range. Mostly we use this where we want to specify a range of dates.
Query:
SELECT emp_id FROM employee
WHERE emp_id BETWEEN 1 AND 10;Query:
SELECT * FROM employee
WHERE join_date BETWEEN '2007-01-01' AND '2008-01-01';11. IN: This operator allows us to specify multiple values in a WHERE clause.
Query:
SELECT * FROM employee
WHERE employee_id IN (1001,1004,1008,1012);12. LIKE: This operator uses the WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a string column. ‘A%’ – string starts with A
- ‘&A’: ends with A
- ‘%A%’: A will be in between the string
- ‘_A%’: Here the 2nd letter will be A
- ‘%A_’: The 2nd from the last letter will be A
Query:
SELECT first_name FROM table
WHERE first_name LIKE 'A%';13. SUBSTRING: Used to pick a specific character from a string by specifying a position
Query:
SELECT SUBSTRING(customer_name,1,5) FROM customer_table;(it will fetch character from the 1st to 5th position of a string)
14. INSTR: This returns a position of a string in another string
Query:
SELECT INSTR('independence', 'pen');(it will find the position of ‘pen’ in the word ‘independence’)
15. GROUP BY: This is used to segregate records based on some given conditions
Query:
SELECT employee_id FROM employee GROUP BY department HAVING salary > 100000;(Here, group by segregated employees based on their department and whose salary is more than 100k.
Condition always comes with a HAVING statement in the GROUP BY clause.)
Aggregated Function
16. SUM: Calculates the sum of values
Query:
SELECT SUM(salary) FROM employee;17. AVG: Calculates the average of a set of value
Query:
SELECT AVG(salary) FROM employee;18. MIN: Gets the minimum value in a set of values
Query:
SELECT MIN(salary) FROM employee;19. MAX: Gets the maximum value in a set of values
Query:
SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employee;Joins
20. INNER JOIN: Returns records that have a matching value in both tables
Query:
SELECT * FROM order
INNER JOIN customer
ON order.cust_id = customer.cust_id;21. LEFT JOIN: Returns all records from the left table and the matched records from the right table
Query:
SELECT * FROM order
LEFT JOIN customer
ON order.cust_id = customer.cust_id;22. RIGHT JOIN: Returns all records from the right table and the matched records from the left table
Query:
SELECT * FROM order
RIGHT JOIN customer
ON order.cust_id = customer.cust_id;23. FULL OUTER JOIN: Returns all the records when there is a match in either the left or right table
Query:
SELECT * FROM order
FULL OUTER JOIN customer
ON order.cust_id = customer.cust_id;Conclusion
These commands and clauses we discussed above are very useful in real-time scenarios as they provide the basic concepts of using SQL queries to fetch and manipulate data in the database. Apart from this, these clauses are essential while using advanced and analytical queries like window function, etc.
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We hope that this EDUCBA information on “MySQL Queries” was beneficial to you. You can view EDUCBA’s recommended articles for more information.
