Learn SQL: Course OverviewCourse Overview

Manipulation

Learn how to use SQL to access, create, and update data stored in a database.

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Key Concepts

Review core concepts you need to learn to master this subject

CREATE TABLE

INSERT

UPDATE

ALTER TABLE

DELETE

Column Constraints

CREATE TABLE

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

The CREATE TABLE statement creates a new table in a database. It allows one to specify the name of the table and the name of each column in the table.

INSERT

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

The INSERT INTO statement is used to add a new record (row) to a table.

It has two forms as shown:

Insert into columns in order.
Insert into columns by name.

UPDATE

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

The UPDATE statement is used to edit records (rows) in a table. It includes a SET clause that indicates the column to edit and a WHERE clause for specifying the record(s).

ALTER TABLE

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to modify the columns of an existing table. When combined with the ADD COLUMN clause, it is used to add a new column.

DELETE

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

The DELETE statement is used to delete records (rows) in a table. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If the WHERE clause is omitted, all records will be deleted.

Column Constraints

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  column3 datatype
);

Column constraints are the rules applied to the values of individual columns:

PRIMARY KEY constraint can be used to uniquely identify the row.
UNIQUE columns have a different value for every row.
NOT NULL columns must have a value.
DEFAULT assigns a default value for the column when no value is specified.

There can be only one PRIMARY KEY column per table and multiple UNIQUE columns.

Manipulation

Lesson 1 of 1

1
SQL, Structured Query Language, is a programming language designed to manage data stored in relational databases. SQL operates through simple, declarative statements. This keeps data ac…
2
Nice work! In one line of code, you returned information from a relational database. SELECT * FROM celebs; We’ll take a look at what this code means soon, for now, let’s focus on what relationa…
3
The code below is a SQL statement. A statement is text that the database recognizes as a valid command. Statements always end in a semicolon ;. CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_1 data_type, …
4
CREATE statements allow us to create a new table in the database. You can use the CREATE statement anytime you want to create a new table from scratch. The statement below creates a new table named…
5
The INSERT statement inserts a new row into a table. You can use the INSERT statement when you want to add new records. The statement below enters a record for Justin Bieber into the celebs table. …
6
SELECT statements are used to fetch data from a database. In the statement below, SELECT returns all data in the name column of the celebs table. SELECT name FROM celebs; 1. SELECT is a clause …
7
The ALTER TABLE statement adds a new column to a table. You can use this command when you want to add columns to a table. The statement below adds a new column twitter_handle to the celebs table. …
8
The UPDATE statement edits a row in a table. You can use the UPDATE statement when you want to change existing records. The statement below updates the record with an id value of 4 to have the twit…
9
The DELETE FROM statement deletes one or more rows from a table. You can use the statement when you want to delete existing records. The statement below deletes all records in the celeb table with …
10
Constraints that add information about how a column can be used are invoked after specifying the data type for a column. They can be used to tell the database to reject inserted data that does no…
11
Congratulations! We’ve learned six commands commonly used to manage data stored in a relational database and how to set constraints on such data. What can we generalize so far? SQL is a programmin…