What are the Most Important SQL Commands To Learn in 2024
SQL commands are the set of instructions provided by the structured query language to better communicate with relational databases and to promote various tasks. There are various types of commands are introduced by the language such as SELECT and UPDATE. Using them, you can perform tasks like retrieving specific data or updating the existing one, etc.
The SQL language is quiet popular across the world because of its commands. According to the latest statistics by the Evans Data Corporation – a market research company, we found that more than 7 million people worldwide use SQL programming language.
Pay attention – if you’re a developer and using relational databases, understanding all the SQL commands along with their uses and implementation techniques is necessary for you.
In this article, we are going to describe some most important SQL commands to learn and practice in 2024. If you’re interested to know, stay with this article and be good to go.
Let’s dive right into this.
Important SQL Commands in 2024
Explore the most popular and highly used SQL commands along with their uses, benefits, limitations, and importance below.
SELECT
It’s one of the most important SQL commands used to easily explore and find out the information from a database that you want. You can use this command as an assistant, specify the columns, and retrieve the information from the database. Extracted information can be used to make perfect decisions.
Using the SELECT command of SQL isn’t tough. Follow a simple structure and you’re good to go. Here’s the basic syntax on how you specify the columns, and explain conditions to retrieve data from.
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name;
Now, let’s move to the next SQL command.
INSERT
The INSERT command is another useful part of SQL used to add new data to a table in your database. You specify the table where you want to add the information and insert the values using this command. In this way, you can keep your databases updated with the latest information.
Here’s how you use this command:
Specify the table using the “INSERT INTO table_name” structure, list the columns in which you want to insert data using “INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, ...)” and provide values to insert using “INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, ...) VALUES (value1, value2, ...);” and you’re good to go.
Also read: Relational Databases vs. Non-relational Databases
UPDATE
Using this SQL command, you can UPDATE the existing data present in your database. You need to select or specify the columns in which you want to update the data. Provide the new or updated values and using the command you can confirm changes.
Here’s the basic syntax you can implement using the UPDATE command:
UPDATE table_name SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2, ... WHERE condition;
DELETE
As shown by name, using “DELETE” SQL command we can remove specific rows from tables. We only need to identify and select the targeted tables in which rows are going to be deleted, apply specific conditions using “WHERE” clause.
That’s how you maintain data integrity and optimize storage space for better speed and performance. Let’s have a look at the basic syntax of this particular SQL command:
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE condition;
CREATE
By using the CREATE SQL command you are able to create and organize databases and their components. Along with this particular command, the more commands you can use include “USE” and “CREATE TABLE.” This is how you create, store and define data, joins and relationships.
According to the experts, this command is quiet helpful when you want to define tables with specific columns and data types. Talking about the basic syntax to be used for this:
1. To create database:
CREATE DATABASE database_name;
2. To create a table:
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
...
);
DROP
This SQL command help you remove or drop specific tables with data you don’t need anymore in your database. By using this command, you can keep your database updated and get rid of older data.
The basic syntax we use for this particular SQL command include:
DROP TABLE table name;
ALTER
ALTER SQL command greatly help you modify the structure of existing objects in your database such as datatype or tables. By using this command, you can add new columns to a table, even add new tables from scratch and rename, modify or drop existing columns from a table.
There are a few basic syntaxes of this particular SQL command we use:
1. To add a new column:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD COLUMN new_column datatype;
2. To modify a column:
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN existing_column new_datatype;
3. To rename a column:
ALTER TABLE table_name
CHANGE COLUMN old_column_name new_column_name datatype;
4. To drop a column:
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;
Note: You need to replace the table name, column name (existing and new) when using this particular command. Above is only the basic syntax is described.
REVOKE
Relational databases such as MySQL use SQL as a query language and provide version control features that allows you to collaborate with multiple developers on a shared project. Using this REVOKE command, you can remove permissions easily that have been granted to other developers or roles working with you.
You can revoke privileges from a user, and from a role at the same moment. This is how you maintain project privacy and data security. Let’s look at the basic syntaxes you use for this particular SQL command.
1. Revoke privileges from a role:
REVOKE privilege_name
ON object_name
FROM role_name;
2. Revoke privileges from a user:
REVOKE privilege_name
ON object_name
FROM user_name;
GRANT
GRANT and REVOKE are two SQL commands working opposite to each other. As explained above, we use REVOKE to remove permissions, while GRANT to give permissions. This is to allow multiple developers to collaborate with you on a shared project, to grant permissions to users and roles.
Let’s talk about the basic syntaxes we use for this particular SQL command:
1. To grant permissions to a user:
GRANT privilege_name
ON object_name
TO user_name;
2. To grant permissions to a role:
GRANT privilege_name
ON object_name
TO role_name;
Mention the object names, user and roles carefully when using this SQL command and giving permissions.
Let’s look at the next SQL command.
SHOW
The “SHOW” is not a standard SQL command and might not be available in all database management systems. Plus, different databases may have variations in how they implement this command for similar purpose. Talking about the purpose of this command, it is used to display or reveal all the databases, tables and columns on a server.
Pay attention – You can use this command in MySQL and PostgreSQL database management systems.
Here’s the basis syntaxes of SHOW command in MySQL:
1. To show databases:
SHOW DATABASES;
2. To show tables:
SHOW TABLES FROM database_name;
3. To show columns:
SHOW COLUMNS FROM table_name FROM database_name;
Moreover, here’s the basic syntaxes of SHOW command in PostgreSQL:
1. To show databases:
\l
2. To show tables:
\c database_name
\dt
3. To show columns:
\d table_name
This is how you can get benefit from this command in MySQL and PostgreSQL.
USE
The “USE” command can help you switch between different databases when you have more than one database on a single server. This is a standardized SQL command help you choose one specific database, and work on updated and queries.
Here’s the basic syntax for using this particular SQL command:
USE database_name;
DESCRIBE
This is not a standard SQL command and may have different syntaxes across different database management systems. This command is used to describe or display information about database objects.
Let’s have a look at its syntax for MySQL and PostgreSQL – the two famous relational database management systems.
For MySQL:
1. To describe a table:
DESCRIBE table_name;
For PostgreSQL:
1. To describe a table:
\d table_name
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Conclusion
In the above article, we have shared completely about various important SQL commands, their uses and functions, and more. You can use these commands for different operations in your database system and ensure you are managing everything well.
In addition to this, we also mentioned how RemotePlatz can help you hire the best SQL developers to create and manage your relational databases.
FAQs
What Is The Most Important SQL Command?
The “SELECT” command of SQL is considered the most important because it is a basic one and contributes to data retrieving. With this command, you can query, manipulate, and filter the data. But keep in mind that the importance of any command mainly depends on the context.
What Are The Big 6 Statements In SQL?
The 6 big statements in SQL include “SELECT” “INSERT” “CREATE” “DELETE” “UPDATE” and “DROP”. All of these are used for different purposes such as retrieving data from tables, adding new rows to a table, creating database subjects like indexes or tables, removing rows from tables, updating the data, and deleting database subjects, respectively.
What Are The 4 Pillars Of SQL?
The pillars refer to the fundamental components, and the four pillars of SQL are selecting data, sorting data, filtering data, and aggregating or grouping the data. All of these are used for different purposes in database management.
What Is The Most Difficult Part Of SQL?
It depends on your skills and understanding level. Maybe some parts of SQL are difficult to learn and practice for you, but not for others at the exact moment, or vice versa. But still, as per experts, database design principles, indexing, and normalization processes are difficult to learn and practice for all.
Is SQL Harder Than Python?
Python is a general-purpose and object-oriented programming language, while SQL is a structured query language. Both of these languages have different purposes, uses, and difficulty levels for learning and implementing them. It depends upon your preferences, while both of these are easy to learn if you focus with complete attention.
