Udemy Course Notes

Complete SQL
Bootcamp
Table of Contents
SELECT

SELECT DISTINCT

WHERE

PostgreSQL WHERE examples

LIMIT

IN Operator

PostgreSQL IN operator examples

NOT IN Operator

ORDER BY

PostgreSQL ORDER BY examples

BETWEEN

PostgreSQL BETWEEN operator examples

LIKE

GROUP BY

PostgreSQL GROUP BY with SUM function example

HAVING

Example

JOINS

SUBQUERY

CREATE TABLE and Constraints

PostgreSQL column constraints

PostgreSQL table constraints

1
PostgreSQL CREATE TABLE example

2
SELECT

Oneofthemostcommontasks,whenyouworkwithPostgreSQL,istoquerydatafrom

tablesbyusingthe statement.The
SELECT statementisoneofthemost
SELECT

complexstatementsinPostgreSQL.Ithasmanyclausesthatyoucancombinetoform

apowerfulquery.

Becauseofitscomplexity,wedividethePostgreSQL statementtutorialinto
SELECT

manyshorttutorialssothatyoucanlearneachclauseofthe statementeasier.
SELECT

Thefollowingaretheclausesthatappearinthe statement:
SELECT

SelectdistinctrowsbyusingDISTINCToperator.

FilterrowsbyusingWHEREclause.

SortrowsbyusingtheORDERBYclause.

SelectrowsbasedonvariousoperatorssuchasBETWEEN,INandLIKE.

GrouprowsintogroupsbyusingGROUPBYclause

ApplyconditionforgroupsbyusingHAVINGclause.

JointoanothertablebyusingINNERJOIN,LEFTJOIN,RIGHTJOIN

clauses.

3
Letsstartwithabasicformofthe statementtoquerydatafromatable.The
SELECT

followingillustratesthesyntaxofthe statement:
SELECT

1 SELECTcolumn_1,column_2,

2 FROMtable_name

Letsexaminethe statementinmoredetail:
SELECT

First,youspecifyalistofcolumnsinthetablefromwhichyouwanttoquery

datainthe clause.Youuseacommabetweeneachcolumnincase
SELECT

youwanttoquerydatafrommultiplecolumns.Ifyouwanttoquerydata

fromallcolumn,youcanuseanasterisk(*)astheshorthandforall

columns.

Second,youindicatethetablenameafterthe keyword
FROM

NoticethatSQLlanguageiscaseinsensitive.Itmeansifyouuse or
SELECT the
select

effectisthesame.Byconvention,wewilluseSQLkeywordsinuppercasetomakethe

codeeasiertoreadandstandoutclearly.

4
SELECT DISTINCT
The clauseisusedintheSELECTstatementtoremoveduplicaterowsfroma
DISTINCT

resultset.The clausekeepsonerowforeachgroupofduplicates.Youcan
DISTINCT

usethe clauseononeormorecolumnsofatable.
DISTINCT

Thesyntaxof clauseisasfollows:
DISTINCT

1 SELECTDISTINCTcolumn_1

2 FROMtable_name

Ifyouspecifymultiplecolumns,the clausewillevaluatetheduplicatebased
DISTINCT

onthecombinationofvaluesofthosecolumns.

1 SELECTDISTINCTcolumn_1,column_2

2 FROMtbl_name

PostgreSQLalsoprovidesthe (expression)tokeepthefirstrowofeach
DISTINCTON

groupofduplicateswheretheexpressionisequal.Seethefollowingsyntax:

1 SELECTDISTINCTON(column_1),column_2

2 FROMtbl_name

3
ORDERBYcolumn_1,column_2

Theorderofrowsreturnedfromthe statementisunpredictablethereforethe
SELECT

firstrowofeachgroupoftheduplicateisalsounpredictable.Itisgoodpracticeto

5
alwaysusethe clausewiththe
ORDERBY tomaketheresult
DISTINCTON(expression)

obvious.

Noticethatthe expressionmustmatchtheleftmostexpressioninthe
DISTINCTON

clause.
ORDERBY

6
WHERE
ThesyntaxofthePostgreSQL clauseisasfollows:
WHERE

1 SELECTcolumn_1,column_2column_n

2 FROMtable_name

3 WHEREconditions

The clauseappearsrightafterthe
WHERE clauseofthe
FROM statement.The
SELECT

conditionsareusedtofiltertherowsreturnedfromthe statement.PostgreSQL
SELECT

providesyouwithvariousstandardoperatorstoconstructtheconditions.

Thefollowingtableillustratesthestandardcomparisonoperators.

OPERATOR DESCRIPTION

= Equal

> Greaterthan

< Lessthan

>= Greaterthanorequal

7
 <= Lessthanorequal

<>or!= Notequal

AND LogicaloperatorAND

OR LogicaloperatorOR

Letspracticewithsomeexamplesofusingthe clausewithconditions.
WHERE

PostgreSQL WHERE examples

Ifyouwanttogetallcustomerswhosefirstnamesare ,youcanusethe
Jamie WHERE

clausewiththeequal(=)operatorasfollows:

1 SELECTlast_name,first_name

2 FROMcustomer

3 WHEREfirst_name='Jamie'

Ifyouwanttoselectthecustomerwhosefirstnameis andlastnamesis
Jamie ,you
rice

canusethe logicaloperatorthatcombinestwoconditionsasthefollowingquery:
AND

1 SELECTlast_name,first_name

2 FROMcustomer

8
3 WHEREfirst_name='Jamie'AND

4 last_name='Rice'

Ifyouwanttoknowwhopaidtherentalwithamountiseitherlessthan1USDorgreater

than8USD,youcanusethefollowingquerywith operator:
OR

1 SELECTcustomer_id,amount,payment_date

2 FROMpayment

3 WHEREamount<=1ORamount>=8

9
LIMIT
PostgreSQLLIMITisusedintheSELECTstatementtogetasubsetofrowsreturnedby

thequery.ThefollowingisthecommonsyntaxoftheLIMITclause:

1 SELECT*

2 FROMTABLE

3 LIMITn

PostgreSQLreturnsnumberofrowsgeneratedbythequery.If
n iszeroor
n ,it
NULL

producestheresultthatissameasomittingthe clause.
LIMIT

Incaseyouwanttoskipanumberofrowsbeforereturningrows,youuse
n OFFSET

clausefollowedbythe clauseasfollows:
LIMIT

1 SELECT*FROMtable

2 LIMITnOFFSETm

PostgreSQLfirstskipsrowsbeforereturningnrowsgeneratedbythequery.Ifmis
m

zero,PostgreSQLwillbehavelikewithoutthe clause.
OFFSET

Becausetheorderoftherowsinthedatabasetableisunknownandunpredictable,

whenyouusethe clause,youshouldalwaysusethe
LIMIT clausetocontrol
ORDERBY

theorderofrows.Ifyoudontdoso,youwillgetanunpredictableresult.

10


IN Operator

Youusethe operatorintheWHEREclausetocheckifavaluematchesanyvaluein
IN

alistofvalues.Thesyntaxofthe operatorisasfollows:
IN

1 valueIN(value1,value2,...)

Theexpressionreturnstrueifthevaluematchesanyvalueinthelisti.e.,value1,

value2,etc.Thelistofvaluesisnotlimitedtoalistofnumbersorstringsbutalsoa

resultsetofa statementasshowninthefollowingquery:
SELECT

1 valueIN(SELECTvalueFROMtbl_name)

Thestatementinsidetheparenthesesiscalledasubquery,whichisaquerynested

insideanotherquery.

PostgreSQL IN operator examples

Supposeyouwanttoknowtherentalinformationofcustomerid1and2,youcanuse

the operatorintheWHEREclauseasfollows:
IN

1 SELECTcustomer_id,rental_id,return_date

2 FROMrental

3 WHEREcustomer_idIN(1,2)

11
 4 ORDERBYreturn_dateDESC

NOT IN Operator
Youcancombinethe operatorwiththe
IN operatortoselectrowswhosevaluesdo
NOT

notmatchthevaluesinthelist.Thefollowingstatementselectsrentalsofcustomers

whosecustomeridisnot1or2.

1 SELECTcustomer_id,rental_id,return_date

2 FROMrental

3 WHEREcustomer_idNOTIN(1,2)

12
ORDER BY

Whenyouquerydatafromatable,PostgreSQLreturnstherowsintheorderthatthey

wereinsertedintothetable.Inordertosorttheresultset,youusethe clause
ORDERBY

intheSELECTstatement.

The clauseallowsyoutosorttherowsreturnedfromthe
ORDERBY statementin
SELECT

ascendingordescendingorderbasedoncriteriaspecifiedbydifferentcriteria.

Thefollowingillustratesthesyntaxofthe clause:
ORDERBY

1 SELECTcolumn_1,column_2

2 FROMtbl_name

3 ORDERBYcolumn_1ASC,column_2DESC

Letsexaminethesyntaxofthe clauseinmoredetail:
ORDERBY

Specifythecolumnthatyouwanttosortinthe clause.Ifyousort
ORDERBY

theresultsetbymultiplecolumns,useacommatoseparatebetweentwo

columns.

Use tosorttheresultsetinascendingorderand
ASC tosorttheresult
DESC

setindescendingorder.Ifyouleaveitblank,the clausewilluse
ORDERBY

bydefault.
ASC

13
LetstakesomeexamplesofusingthePostgreSQL clause.
ORDERBY

PostgreSQL ORDER BY examples

Thefollowingquerysortscustomersbythefirstnameinascendingorder:

1 SELECTfirst_name,last_name

2 FROMcustomer

3 ORDERBYfirst_nameASC

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BETWEEN
Weusethe operatortomatchavalueagainstarangeofvalues.Thefollowing
BETWEEN

illustratesthesyntaxofthe operator:
BETWEEN

1 valueBETWEENlowANDhigh

Ifthevalueisgreaterthanorequaltothelowvalueandlessthanorequaltothehigh

value,theexpressionreturnstrue,orviceversa.

Wecanrewritethe operatorbyusingthegreaterthanorequal(
BETWEEN )orless
>=

thanorequal( )operatorsasthefollowingstatement:
<=

1 value>=lowandvalue<=high

Ifwewanttocheckifavalueisoutofarange,weusethe operatoras
NOTBETWEEN

follows:

1 valueNOTBETWEENlowANDhigh

Thefollowingexpressionisequivalenttotheexpressionthatusesthe
NOTBETWEEN

operator:

1 value<lowORvalue>high

WeoftenusetheBETWEENoperatorintheWHEREclauseofaSELECT,INSERT,

UPDATEorDELETEstatement.

15
PostgreSQL BETWEEN operator examples
Letstakealookatthe tableinthesampledatabase.
payment

Thefollowingqueryselectsanypaymentwhoseamountisbetween8and9:

1 SELECTcustomer_id,payment_id,amount

2 FROMpayment

3 WHEREamountBETWEEN8AND9

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 LIKE

Supposethestoremanagerasksyoufindacustomerthathedoesnotremember

thenameexactly.Hejustremembersthatcustomersfirstnamebeginswith

somethinglike .Howdoyoufindtheexactcustomerthatthestoremanageris
Jen

asking?Youmayfindthecustomerinthe tablebylookingatthefirst
customer

namecolumntoseeifthereisanyvaluethatbeginswith .Itiskindoftedious
Jen

becausetheremanyrowsinthe table.
customer

Fortunately,youcanusethePostgreSQL operatortoasthefollowingquery:
LIKE

1 SELECTfirst_name,last_name

2 FROMcustomer

3 WHEREfirst_nameLIKE'Jen%'

Noticethatthe clausecontainsaspecialexpression:the
WHERE ,the
first_name LIKE

operatorandastringthatcontainsapercent )character,whichisreferredasa
(%

pattern
.

Thequeryreturnsrowswhosevaluesinthefirstnamecolumnbeginwith andmay
Jen

befollowedbyanysequenceofcharacters.Thistechniqueiscalledpatternmatching.

17
Youconstructapatternbycombiningastringwithwildcardcharactersandusethe
LIKE

or operatortofindthematches.PostgreSQLprovidestwowildcardcharacters:
NOTLIKE

Percent()formatchinganysequenceofcharacters.
%

Underscore()formatchinganysinglecharacter.
_

18
GROUP BY
The clausedividestherowsreturnedfromtheSELECTstatementinto
GROUPBY

groups.Foreachgroup,youcanapplyanaggregatefunctione.g.,tocalculatethesum

ofitemsorcountthenumberofitemsinthegroups.

Thefollowingstatementillustratesthesyntaxofthe clause:
GROUPBY

1 SELECTcolumn_1,aggregate_function(column_2)

2 FROMtbl_name

3 GROUPBYcolumn_1

The clausemustappearrightafterthe
GROUPBY or
FROM clause.Followedby
WHERE

the clauseisonecolumnoralistofcommaseparatedcolumns.Youcanalso
GROUPBY

putanexpressioninthe clause.
GROUPBY

PostgreSQL GROUP BY with SUM function example

The clauseisusefulwhenitisusedinconjunctionwithanaggregate
GROUPBY

function.Forexample,togethowmuchacustomerhasbeenpaid,youusethe
GROUP

clausetodividethe
BY tableintogroupsforeachgroup,youcalculatethe
payments

totalamountsofmoneybyusingthe functionasthefollowingquery:
SUM

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1 SELECTcustomer_id,

2 SUM(amount)

3 FROMpayment

4 GROUPBYcustomer_id

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HAVING
Weoftenusethe clauseinconjunctionwiththeGROUPBYclausetofilter
HAVING

grouprowsthatdonotsatisfyaspecifiedcondition.

Thefollowingstatementillustratesthetypicalsyntaxofthe clause:
HAVING

1 SELECTcolumn_1,aggregate_function(column_2)

2 FROMtbl_name

3 GROUPBYcolumn_1

4 HAVINGcondition

The clausesetstheconditionforgrouprowscreatedbythe
HAVING clause
GROUPBY

afterthe clauseapplieswhiletheWHEREclausesetstheconditionfor
GROUPBY

individualrowsbefore clauseapplies.Thisisthemaindifferencebetweenthe
GROUPBY

and
HAVING clauses.
WHERE

InPostgreSQL,youcanusethe clausewithoutthe
HAVING clause.Inthis
GROUPBY

case,the clausewillturnthequeryintoasinglegroup.Inaddition,the
HAVING

listand
SELECT clausecanonlyrefertocolumnsfromwithinaggregate
HAVING

functions.Thiskindofqueryreturnsasinglerowiftheconditioninthe clauseis
HAVING

trueorzerorowifitisfalse.

21
Example

Youcanapplythe clausetoselectstheonlycustomerwhohasbeenspending
HAVING

morethan asthefollowingquery:
200

1 SELECTcustomer_id,

2 SUM(amount)

3
FROMpayment

4
GROUPBYcustomer_id

5
HAVINGSUM(amount)>200

22
JOINS
A full review of SQL JOINS is available online here:

https://medium.com/@josemarcialportilla/review-of-sql-joins-ac5463dc71c9#.ayjcuatvj

23
SUBQUERY

Asubqueryisaquerynestedinsideanotherquerysuchas and
SELECT,INSERT,DELETE

.Inthistutorial,wearefocusingonthe
UPDATE statementonly.
SELECT

Toconstructasubquery,weputthesecondqueryinbracketsanduseitintheWHERE

clauseasanexpression:

1 SELECTfilm_id,title,rental_rate

2 FROMfilm

3 WHERErental_rate>(

4 SELECTAVG(rental_rate)

5 FROMfilm)

Thequeryinsidethebracketsiscalledasubqueryoraninnerquery.Thequerythat

containsthesubqueryisknownasanouterquery.

PostgreSQLexecutesthequerythatcontainsasubqueryinthefollowingsequence:

First,executesthesubquery.

Second,getstheresultandpassesittotheouterquery.

Third,executestheouterquery.

24
CREATE TABLE and Constraints
TocreateanewtableinPostgreSQL,youusethe statement.The
CREATETABLE

followingillustratesthesyntaxofthe statement:
CREATETABLE

1 CREATETABLEtable_name(

2 column_nameTYPEcolumn_constraint,

3 table_constrainttable_constraint

4 )INHERITSexisting_table_name

Letsexaminethesyntaxofthe statementinmoredetail.
CREATETABLE

First,youspecifythenameofthenewtableafterthe clause.
CREATETABLE

The keywordisforcreatingatemporarytable,whichwewill
TEMPORARY

discussinthetemporarytabletutorial.

Next,youlistthecolumnname,itsdatatype,andcolumnconstraint.You

canhavemultiplecolumnsinatable,eachcolumnisseparatedbya

comma(,).Thecolumnconstraintdefinestherulesforthecolumne.g.,

NOTNULL.

Then,afterthecolumnlist,youdefineatablelevelconstraintthatdefines

rulesforthedatainthetable.

Afterthat,youspecifyanexistingtablefromwhichthenewtableinherits.It

meansthenewtablecontainsallcolumnsoftheexistingtableandthe

25
 columnsdefinedinthe statement.ThisisaPostgreSQLs
CREATETABLE

extensiontoSQL.

PostgreSQLcolumnconstraints

ThefollowingarethecommonlyusedcolumnconstraintsinPostgreSQL:

NOTNULLthevalueofthecolumncannotbe .
NULL

UNIQUEthevalueofthecolumnmustbeuniqueacrossthewholetable.

However,thecolumncanhavemany valuesbecausePostgreSQL
NULL

treatseach valuetobeunique.NoticethatSQLstandardonlyallows
NULL

one valueinthecolumnthathasthe
NULL constraint.
UNIQUE

PRIMARYKEYthisconstraintisthecombinationof and
NOTNULL

constraints.Youcandefineonecolumnas
UNIQUE byusing
PRIMARYKEY

columnlevelconstraint.Incasetheprimarykeycontainsmultiplecolumns,

youmustusethetablelevelconstraint.

CHECKenablestocheckaconditionwhenyouinsertorupdatedata.For

example,thevaluesinthe columnofthe
price tablemustbe
product

positivevalues.

REFERENCESconstrainsthevalueofthecolumnthatexistsinacolumn

inanothertable.Youuse todefinetheforeignkeyconstraint.
REFERENCES

26
PostgreSQL table constraints

Thetableconstraintsaresimilartocolumnconstraintsexceptthattheyareappliedto

theentiretableratherthantoanindividualcolumn.

Thefollowingarethetableconstraints:

UNIQUE(column_list)
toforcethevaluestoredinthecolumnslistedinside

theparenthesestobeunique.

PRIMARYKEY(column_list)
todefinetheprimarykeythatconsistsof

multiplecolumns.

CHECK(condition)
tocheckaconditionwheninsertingorupdatingdata.

REFERENCES
toconstrainthevaluestoredinthecolumnthatmustexistin

acolumninanothertable.

PostgreSQLCREATETABLEexample
Wewillcreateanewtablenamed thathasthefollowingcolumnswiththe
account

correspondingconstraints:

user_idprimarykey

usernameuniqueandnotnull

passwordnotnull

emailuniqueandnotnull

created_onnotnull

27
 last_loginnull

Thefollowingstatementcreatesthe table:
account

1 CREATETABLEaccount(

2 user_idserialPRIMARYKEY,

3 usernameVARCHAR(50)UNIQUENOTNULL,

4 passwordVARCHAR(50)NOTNULL,

5 emailVARCHAR(355)UNIQUENOTNULL,

6 created_onTIMESTAMPNOTNULL,

7 last_loginTIMESTAMP)

28