SQL SELECT Statement

The SQL SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.

The data returned is stored in a result table, called the result-set.

SELECT Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name

Here, column1, column2, ... are the field names of the table you want to select data from. If you want to select all the fields available in the table, use the following syntax:

SELECT *
FROM table_name

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

SELECT Column Example

The following SQL statement selects the "CustomerName" and "City" columns from the "Customers" table:

SELECT CustomerName, City 
FROM Customers

SELECT * Example

The following SQL statement selects all the columns from the "Customers" table:

SELECT * 
FROM Customers