MySQL SELECT

The MySQL SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement retrieves data from a database, storing the returned data in a result table known as the result-set.

SELECT Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, …
FROM table_name;

Here, column1, column2, and so forth, represent the field names of the table from which you intend to retrieve data. If you wish to select all fields available in the table, use the following syntax:

SELECT * FROM table_name;

Demo Database

In this tutorial, we will utilize the popular Northwind sample database.

Here is a snippet from the “Customers” table in the Northwind sample database:

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

SELECT Columns Example

The SQL statement below retrieves the “CustomerName”, “City”, and “Country” columns from the “Customers” table:

Example

SELECT CustomerName, City, Country FROM Customers;

SELECT * Example

The SQL statement below selects all columns from the “Customers” table:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers;

The MySQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

The SELECT DISTINCT statement is used to retrieve unique (distinct) values from a column in a table, eliminating duplicate entries to provide a list of unique values.

SELECT DISTINCT Syntax

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2, …
FROM table_name;

SELECT Example Without DISTINCT

The following SQL statement retrieves all values, including duplicates, from the “Country” column in the “Customers” table:

Example

SELECT Country FROM Customers;

Now, let’s employ the SELECT DISTINCT statement and observe the outcome.

SELECT DISTINCT Examples

The SQL statement below retrieves only the distinct values from the “Country” column in the “Customers” table:

Example

SELECT DISTINCT Country FROM Customers;

The SQL statement below calculates and retrieves the count of unique (distinct) countries in the “Customers” table:

Example

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Country) FROM Customers;