SQL SELECT Statement

Introduction

The SELECT statement is the fundamental way to retrieve data from a database table. It allows you to choose specific columns or all columns from a table and display the results.

Basic Syntax

Syntax


SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name;

Here:

column1, column2, ... represents the names of the columns you want to select. You can list as many columns as needed, separated by commas.
table_name is the name of the table from which you're retrieving the data.

Example: Selecting Specific Columns

Example: Selecting Customer Name and City

This example selects the CustomerName and City columns from the Customers table.

SQL Query


SELECT CustomerName, City FROM Customers;

Output


-- Output will vary depending on the data in your Customers table. Example:
-- CustomerName                      | City
-- ---------------------------------- | --------
-- Alfreds Futterkiste                | Berlin
-- Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | México D.F.
-- Antonio Moreno Taquería           | México D.F.
-- ...and so on...

Selecting All Columns

If you want to retrieve all columns from a table, you can use the asterisk (*) wildcard:

Syntax


SELECT * FROM table_name;

Example: Selecting All Columns

This example retrieves all columns from the Customers table.

SQL Query


SELECT * FROM Customers;

Output


-- Output will show all columns from the Customers table.  Example:
-- CustomerID | CustomerName                      | ContactName       | Address                | City       | PostalCode | Country
-- ---------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------ | ---------------------- | ---------- | ---------- | --------
-- 1          | Alfreds Futterkiste                | Maria Anders        | Obere Str. 57          | Berlin     | 12209      | Germany
-- 2          | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo        | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021      | Mexico
-- ...and so on...

Demo Database: Customers Table

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden