What is SQL?

SQL is Structured Query Language, which is a computer language for storing, manipulating and
retrieving data stored in relational database.
SQL is the standard language for Relation Database System. All relational database management
systems like MySQL, MS Access, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, postgres and SQL Server use SQL
as standard database language.
Also, they are using different dialects, such as:

MS SQL Server using T-SQL,

Oracle using PL/SQL,

MS Access version of SQL is called JET SQL (native format) etc.

Why SQL?
 Allows users to access data in relational database management systems.

 Allows users to describe the data.

 Allows users to define the data in database and manipulate that data.

 Allows to embed within other languages using SQL modules, libraries & pre-compilers.

 Allows users to create and drop databases and tables.

 Allows users to create view, stored procedure, functions in a database.

 Allows users to set permissions on tables, procedures and views

SQL Commands:
The standard SQL commands to interact with relational databases are CREATE, SELECT,
INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and DROP. These commands can be classified into groups based
on their nature:

DDL -Data Definition Description

Language:Command

CREATE Creates a new table, a view of a table, or other

object in database

ALTER Modifies an existing database object, such as

a table.

DROP Deletes an entire table, a view of a table or

other object in the database.

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 DML -Data Manipulation Description
Language:Command

INSERT Creates a record

UPDATE Modifies records

DELETE Deletes records

DCL -Data Control Description

Language:Command

GRANT Gives a privilege to user

REVOKE Takes back privileges granted from user

DQL -Data Query Description

Language:Command

SELECT Retrieves certain records from one or more

tables

SQL RDBMS Concepts

What is RDBMS?
RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System. RDBMS is the basis for SQL and
for all modern database systems like MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft
Access.
A Relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system
(DBMS) that is based on the relational model as introduced by E. F. Codd.
What is table?
The data0 in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables. The table is a collection of
related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
Remember, a table is the most common and simplest form of data storage in a relational
database. Following is the example of a CUSTOMERS table:

+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Adugna | 32 | Wolkite| 2000.00 |
| 2 | Mebratu| 25 | Durame | 1500.00 |
| 3 | Leom |23 | Gubre | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Tsedeke |25 | Hossana| 6500.00 |
| 5 | Bogale |27 | Addis Abebe|8500.00 |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+

What is field?

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Every table is broken up into smaller entities called fields. The fields in the CUSTOMERS table
consist of ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS and SALARY.
A field is a column in a table that is designed to maintain specific information about every record
in the table.

What is record or row?

A record, also called a row of data, is each individual entry that exists in a table. For example,
there are 7 records in the above CUSTOMERS table. Following is a single row of data or record
in the CUSTOMERS table:

A record is a horizontal entity in a table.

What is column?
A column is a vertical entity in a table that contains all information associated with a specific
field in a table.

What is NULL value?

A NULL value in a table is a value in a field that appears to be blank, which means a field with a
NULL value is a field with no value.
It is very important to understand that a NULL value is different than a zero value or a field that
contains spaces. A field with a NULL value is one that has been left blank during record
creation.

SQL Constraints:
Constraints are the rules enforced on data columns on table. These are used to limit the type of
data that can go into a table. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data in the database.
Constraints could be column level or table level. Column level constraints are applied only to
one column, whereas table level constraints are applied to the whole table.
Following are commonly used constraints available in SQL:
NOT NULL Constraint: Ensures that a column cannot have NULL value.
DEFAULT Constraint: Provides a default value for a column when none is specified.
UNIQUE Constraint: Ensures that all values in a column are different.
PRIMARY Key: Uniquely identified each rows/records in a database table.
FOREIGN Key: Uniquely identified a rows/records in any another database table.
CHECK Constraint: The CHECK constraint ensures that all values in a column satisfy
certain conditions.
INDEX: Use to create and retrieve data from the database very quickly.

NOT NULL Constraint:

By default, a column can hold NULL values. If you do not want a column to have a NULL
value, then you need to define such constraint on this column specifying that NULL is now not
allowed for that column.
A NULL is not the same as no data, rather, it represents unknown data.

Example:

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For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five
columns, three of which, ID and NAME and AGE, specify not to accept NULLs:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
DOB DATETIME NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25),
SALARY DECIMAL (18,2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
If CUSTOMERS table has already been created, then to add a NOT NULL constraint to
SALARY column in Oracle and MySQL, you would write a statement similar to the following:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
MODIFY SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2) NOT NULL;

DEFAULT Constraint:
The DEFAULT constraint provides a default value to a column when the INSERT INTO
statement does not provide a specific value.
Example:
For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five
columns. Here, SALARY column is set to 5000.00 by default, so in case INSERT INTO
statement does not provide a value for this column. Then by default this column would be set to
5000.00.
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2) DEFAULT 5000.00,
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
If CUSTOMERS table has already been created, then to add a DFAULT constraint to SALARY
column, you would write a statement similar to the following:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
MODIFY SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2) DEFAULT 5000.00;

Drop Default Constraint:

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
ALTER COLUMN SALARY DROP DEFAULT;

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UNIQUE Constraint:
The UNIQUE Constraint prevents two records from having identical values in a particular
column. In the CUSTOMERS table, for example, you might want to prevent two or more people
from having identical DOB.
Example:
For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five
columns. Here, AGE column is set to UNIQUE, so that you cannot have two records with same
age:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
DOB DATETIME NOT NULL UNIQUE,
ADDRESS CHAR (25),
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);

If CUSTOMERS table has already been created, then to add a UNIQUE constraint to AGE
column, you would write a statement similar to the following:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
MODIFY AGE INT NOT NULL UNIQUE;
You can also use following syntax, which supports naming the constraint in multiple columns as
well:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
ADD CONSTRAINT myUniqueConstraint UNIQUE(AGE, SALARY);

DROP a UNIQUE Constraint:

To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
DROP CONSTRAINT myUniqueConstraint;
If you are using MySQL, then you can use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
DROP INDEX myUniqueConstraint;
PRIMARY Key:
A primary key is a field in a table which uniquely identifies each row/record in a database table.
Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot have NULL values.
A table can have only one primary key, which may consist of single or multiple fields. When
multiple fields are used as a primary key, they are called a composite key.
If a table has a primary key defined on any field(s), then you can not have two records having the
same value of that field(s).
Note: You would use these concepts while creating database tables.
Create Primary Key:
Here is the syntax to define ID attribute as a primary key in a CUSTOMERS table.

CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(

ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
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AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "ID" column when CUSTOMERS table already
exists, use the following SQL syntax:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMER ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);
NOTE: If you use the ALTER TABLE statement to add a primary key, the primary key
column(s) must already have been declared to not contain NULL values (when the table was first
created).
For defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS (
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID, NAME)
);
To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "ID" and "NAMES" columns when
CUSTOMERS table already exists, use the following SQL syntax:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
ADD CONSTRAINT PK_CUSTID PRIMARY KEY (ID, NAME);
Delete Primary Key:
You can clear the primary key constraints from the table, Use Syntax:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS DROP PRIMARY KEY;

FOREIGN Key:
A foreign key is a key used to link two tables together. This is sometimes called a referencing
key.
Foreign Key is a column or a combination of columns whose values match a Primary Key in a
different table.
The relationship between 2 tables matches the Primary Key in one of the tables with a
Foreign Key in the second table.
If a table has a primary key defined on any field(s), then you can not have two records having the
same value of that field(s).
Example:
Consider the structure of the two tables as follows:
CUSTOMERS table:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),

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PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
ORDERS table:
CREATE TABLE ORDERS (
ID INT NOT NULL,
DATE DATETIME,
CUSTOMER_ID INT references CUSTOMERS(ID),
AMOUNT double,
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
If ORDERS table has already been created, and the foreign key has not yet been set, use the
syntax for specifying a foreign key by altering a table.
ALTER TABLE ORDERS
ADD FOREIGN KEY (Customer_ID) REFERENCES CUSTOMERS (ID);

DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint:

To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE ORDERS
DROP FOREIGN KEY;
CHECK Constraint:
The CHECK Constraint enables a condition to check the value being entered into a record. If the
condition evaluates to false, the record violates the constraint and isn’t entered into the table.
Example:
For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five
columns. Here, we add a CHECK with AGE column, so that you can not have any CUSTOMER
below 18 years:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL CHECK (AGE >= 18),
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
If CUSTOMERS table has already been created, then to add a CHECK constraint to AGE
column, you would write a statement similar to the following:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
MODIFY AGE INT NOT NULL CHECK (AGE >= 18 );
You can also use following syntax, which supports naming the constraint in multiple columns as
well:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
ADD CONSTRAINT myCheckConstraint CHECK(AGE >= 18);
DROP a CHECK Constraint:
To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL. This syntax does not work with MySQL:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
DROP CONSTRAINT myCheckConstraint;

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INDEX:
The INDEX is used to create and retrieve data from the database very quickly. Index can be
created by using single or group of columns in a table. When index is created, it is assigned a
ROWID for each row before it sorts out the data.
Proper indexes are good for performance in large databases, but you need to be careful while
creating index. Selection of fields depends on what you are using in your SQL queries.
Example:
For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five
columns:
CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
Now, you can create index on single or multiple columns using the following syntax:
CREATE INDEX index_name
ON table_name ( column1, column2.....);
To create an INDEX on AGE column, to optimize the search on customers for a particular age,
following is the SQL syntax:
CREATE INDEX idx_age
ON CUSTOMERS ( AGE );
DROP anINDEX Constraint:
To drop an INDEX constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS
DROP INDEX idx_age;
Data Integrity:
The following categories of the data integrity exist with each RDBMS:
Entity Integrity: There are no duplicate rows in a table.
Domain Integrity: Enforces valid entries for a given column by restricting the type, the
format, or the range of values.
Referential Integrity: Rows cannot be deleted which are used by other records.
User-Defined Integrity: Enforces some specific business rules that do not fall into
entity, domain, or referential integrity.

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 statements end with a semicolon (;).

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Important point to be noted is that SQL is case insensitive, which means SELECT and select
have same meaning in SQL statements, but MySQL makes 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 LIKEClause:
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;

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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;

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SQL ROLLBACK Statement:
ROLLBACK;
SQL Data Types
SQL data type is an attribute that specifies type of data of any object. Each column, variable and
expression has related data type in SQL.
You would use these data types while creating your tables. You would choose a particular data
type for a table column based on your requirement.
SQL Server offers six categories of data types for your use:

Exact Numeric Data

Types:
DATA TYPE
FROM TO
Bigint - 9,223,372,036,854,775,80
9,223,372,036,854,775,80 7
8
Int -2,147,483,648 2,147,483,647

Smallint -32,768 32,767

Tinyint 0 255

Bit 0 1

Decimal -10^38 +1 10^38 -1

Numeric -10^38 +1 10^38 -1

Money - +922,337,203,685,477.58
922,337,203,685,477.5808 07
Smallmoney -214,748.3648 +214,748.3647

Date and Time Data FROM TO

Types:DATA TYPE
Datetime Jan 1, 1753 Dec 31, 9999

Smalldatetime Jan 1, 1900 Jun 6, 2079

Date Stores a date like June 30, 1991

Time Stores a time of day like 12:30 P.M.

Binary Data Types: Description

DATA TYPE
Binary Maximum length of 8,000 bytes(Fixed-length binary data )

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 Varbinary Maximum length of 8,000 bytes.(Variable length binary data)

varbinary(max) Maximum length of 231 bytes (SQL Server 2005 only). ( Variable
length Binary data)

Image Maximum length of 2,147,483,647 bytes. ( Variable length

Binary Data)

DATA TYPE
Description
sql_variant Stores values of various SQL Server-supported data types, except text,
ntext, and timestamp.
timestamp Stores a database-wide unique number that gets updated every time a row
gets updated
uniqueidentifier Stores a globally unique identifier (GUID)
xml Stores XML data. You can store xml instances in a column or a variable
(SQL Server 2005 only).
cursor Reference to a cursor object
table Stores a result set for later processing

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