SQL Cheat Sheet

Get a reference for many of the common SQL commands and features on this SQL Cheat Sheet page.

This SQL Cheat Sheet applies to Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and Postgres.

You can also find out more details on these features on the SQL Roadmap page.

Table of Contents

SELECT Query

SELECT col1, col2
FROM table
JOIN table2 ON table1.col = table2.col
WHERE condition
GROUP BY column_name
HAVING condition
ORDER BY col1 ASC|DESC;

SELECT Keywords

DISTINCT: Removes duplicate results

SELECT DISTINCT product_name
FROM product;

BETWEEN: Matches a value between two other values (inclusive)

SELECT product_name
FROM product
WHERE price BETWEEN 50 AND 100;

IN: Matches to any of the values in a list

SELECT product_name
FROM product
WHERE category IN ('Electronics', 'Furniture');

LIKE: Performs wildcard matches using _ or %

SELECT product_name
FROM product
WHERE product_name LIKE '%Desk%";

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Joins

Syntax:

SELECT t1.*, t2.*
FROM t1
join_type t2 ON t1.col = t2.col;

Join Type	Image
INNER JOIN Show all matching records in both tables.
LEFT JOIN Show all records from left table, and any matching records from right table.
RIGHT JOIN Show all records from right table, and any matching records from left table.
FULL JOIN Show all records from both tables, whether there is a match or not.

CASE Statement

Simple Case

CASE name
  WHEN 'John' THEN 'Name John'
  WHEN 'Steve' THEN 'Name Steve'
  ELSE 'Unknown'
END

Searched Case

CASE
  WHEN name='John' THEN 'Name John'
  WHEN name='Steve' THEN 'Name Steve'
  ELSE 'Unknown'
END

Common Table Expression

WITH queryname AS (
  SELECT col1, col2
  FROM firsttable)
SELECT col1, col2..
FROM queryname...;

Modifying Data

Insert

INSERT INTO tablename (col1, col2...)
VALUES (val1, val2);

Insert from a table

INSERT INTO tablename (col1, col2...)
SELECT col1, col2...

Insert multiple rows (SQL Server, MySQL, Postgres)

INSERT INTO tablename (col1, col2…)
VALUES
(valA1, valB1),
(valA2, valB2),
(valA3, valB3);

Insert multiple rows (Oracle)

INSERT ALL
INTO tablename (col1, col2) VALUES (valA1, valB1)
INTO tablename (col1, col2) VALUES (valA2, valB2)
SELECT * FROM dual;

Update

UPDATE tablename
SET col1 = val1
WHERE condition;

Update with a Join

UPDATE t
SET col1 = val1
FROM tablename t
INNER JOIN table x
ON t.id = x.tid
WHERE condition;

Delete

DELETE FROM tablename
WHERE condition;

Indexes

Create Index

CREATE INDEX indexname
ON tablename (cols);

Drop Index

DROP INDEX indexname;

Set Operators

Operator	Image
UNION Shows unique rows from two result sets.
UNION ALL Shows all rows from two result sets.
INTERSECT Shows rows that exist in both result sets.
MINUS (MySQL), EXCEPT (Oracle) Shows rows that exist in the first result set but not the second.

Aggregate Functions

SUM: Finds a total of the numbers provided
COUNT: Finds the number of records
AVG: Finds the average of the numbers provided
MIN: Finds the lowest of the numbers provided
MAX: Finds the highest of the numbers provided

Common Functions

MySQL

LENGTH(string): Returns the length of the provided string
INSTR(string, substring): Returns the position of the substring within the specified string.
CAST(expression AS datatype): Converts an expression into the specified data type.
ADDDATE(input_date, days): Adds a number of days to a specified date.
NOW: Returns the current date, including time.
CEILING(input_val): Returns the smallest integer greater than the provided number.
FLOOR(input_val): Returns the largest integer less than the provided number.
ROUND(input_val, [round_to]): Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
TRUNCATE(input_value, num_decimals): Truncates a number to a number of decimals.
REPLACE(whole_string, string_to_replace, replacement_string): Replaces one string inside the whole string with another string.
SUBSTRING(string, start_position): Returns part of a value, based on a position and length.

Oracle

LENGTH(string): Returns the length of the provided string
INSTR(string, substring, [start_position], [occurrence]): Returns the position of the substring within the specified string.
TO_CHAR(input_value, [fmt_mask], [nls_param]): Converts a date or a number to a string
TO_DATE(charvalue, [fmt_mask], [nls_date_lang]): Converts a string to a date value.
TO_NUMBER(input_value, [fmt_mask], [nls_param]): Converts a string value to a number.
ADD_MONTHS(input_date, num_months): Adds a number of months to a specified date.
SYSDATE: Returns the current date, including time.
CEIL(input_val): Returns the smallest integer greater than the provided number.
FLOOR(input_val): Returns the largest integer less than the provided number.
ROUND(input_val, round_to): Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
TRUNC(input_value, dec_or_fmt): Truncates a number or date to a number of decimals or format.
REPLACE(whole_string, string_to_replace, [replacement_string]): Replaces one string inside the whole string with another string.
SUBSTR(string, start_position, [length]): Returns part of a value, based on a position and length.

SQL Server

LEN(string): Returns the length of the provided string
CHARINDEX(string, substring, [start_position], [occurrence]): Returns the position of the substring within the specified string.
CAST(expression AS type [(length)]): Converts an expression to another data type.
GETDATE: Returns the current date, including time.
CEILING(input_val): Returns the smallest integer greater than the provided number.
FLOOR(input_val): Returns the largest integer less than the provided number.
ROUND(input_val, round_to, operation): Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
REPLACE(whole_string, string_to_replace, replacement_string): Replaces one string inside the whole string with another string.
SUBSTRING(string, start_position, [length]): Returns part of a value, based on a position and length.

Postgres

LENGTH(string): Returns the length of the provided string
POSITION(string IN substring): Returns the position of the substring within the specified string.
CAST(expression AS datatype): Converts an expression into the specified data type.
NOW: Returns the current date, including time.
CEIL(input_val): Returns the smallest integer greater than the provided number.
FLOOR(input_val): Returns the largest integer less than the provided number.
ROUND(input_val, [round_to]): Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
TRUNC(input_value, num_decimals): Truncates a number to a number of decimals.
REPLACE(whole_string, string_to_replace, replacement_string): Replaces one string inside the whole string with another string.
SUBSTRING(string, [start_pos], [length]): Returns part of a value, based on a position and length.

Create Table

CREATE TABLE tablename (
  column_name data_type
);

Create Table with Constraints

CREATE TABLE tablename (
  column_name data_type NOT NULL,
  CONSTRAINT pkname PRIMARY KEY (col),
  CONSTRAINT fkname FOREIGN KEY (col) REFERENCES other_table(col_in_other_table),
  CONSTRAINT ucname UNIQUE (col),
  CONSTRAINT ckname CHECK (conditions)
);

Create Temporary Table (MySQL)

CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE tablename (
  colname datatype
);

Create Temporary Table (Oracle)

CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE tablename (
  colname datatype
) ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS;

Create Temporary Table (SQL Server)

SELECT cols
INTO #tablename
FROM table;

Create Temporary Table (Postgres)

CREATE TEMP TABLE tablename (
  colname datatype
);

Drop Table

DROP TABLE tablename;

Alter Table

Add Column

ALTER TABLE tablename
ADD columnname datatype;

Drop Column

ALTER TABLE tablename
DROP COLUMN columnname;

Modify Column (MySQL)

ALTER TABLE tablename
CHANGE columnname newcolumnname newdatatype;

Modify Column (Oracle)

ALTER TABLE tablename
MODIFY columnname newdatatype;

Modify Column (SQL Server)

ALTER TABLE tablename
ALTER COLUMN columnname newdatatype;

Modify Column (Postgres)

ALTER TABLE tablename
ALTER COLUMN columnname TYPE newdatatype;

Rename Column (MySQL)

ALTER TABLE tablename
CHANGE COLUMN currentname TO newname;

Rename Column (Oracle, Postgres)

ALTER TABLE tablename
RENAME COLUMN currentname TO newname;

Rename Column (SQL Server)

sp_rename 'table_name.old_column_name',
'new_column_name', 'COLUMN';

Add Constraint

ALTER TABLE tablename
ADD CONSTRAINT constraintname constrainttype (columns);

Drop Constraint

ALTER TABLE tablename
DROP constraint_type constraintname;

Rename Table (MySQL, Oracle, Postgres)

ALTER TABLE tablename
RENAME TO newtablename;

Rename Table (SQL Server)

sp_rename 'old_table_name', 'new_table_name';

Window/Analytic Functions

Syntax

function_name ( arguments ) OVER (
[query_partition_clause]
[ORDER BY order_by_clause
[windowing_clause] ] )

Example using RANK, showing the student details and their rank according to the fees_paid, grouped by gender:

SELECT
student_id,
first_name,
last_name,
gender,
fees_paid,
RANK() OVER (
  PARTITION BY gender ORDER BY fees_paid
) AS rank_val
FROM student;

Subqueries

Single Row

SELECT id, last_name, salary
FROM employee
WHERE salary = (
  SELECT MAX(salary)
  FROM employee
);

Multi-Row

SELECT id, last_name, salary
FROM employee
WHERE salary IN (
  SELECT salary
  FROM employee
  WHERE last_name LIKE 'C%'
);