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BasicData & Databasesbeginner

SQL Syntax

Relax. We'll talk through this in plain words — no textbook voice.

An SQL query is called a statement. Most statements end with a semicolon (;). SQL keywords like SELECT, FROM, WHERE are case-insensitive, so writing select also works fine. That said, writing keywords in uppercase makes things easier to read, so it's good practice.

Basic pattern

SELECT columns FROM table_name WHERE condition;

Things to watch out for

Wrap string values in single quotes, for example 'Mexico'. Numbers don't need quotes.

sql
SELECT CustomerName, Country
FROM Customers
WHERE Country = 'Mexico';
You should see
What this code does: It selects only the rows in the Customers table where Country equals Mexico, and shows the CustomerName and Country columns. Important things to notice: FROM points to the table the data comes from, while WHERE sets the filter for which rows get picked.