Your first SELECT

MySQL Course · lesson 1 of 21 · 4 min read

SELECT names the columns, FROM names the table. Everything else is refinement.

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Key points

  • A query answers one question: which rows, and which columns of them.
  • SELECT * means every column - convenient when exploring, wasteful in real code.
  • Name the columns you actually need and the database reads and ships less.
  • SQL is declarative: you describe the result, not how to fetch it.
  • The playground below runs a real engine - broken queries give real errors.

SELECT chooses columns, FROM chooses the table - and naming columns beats * in real code.

Filtering with WHERE

This is a reading copy. The full lesson — with the visual explainer, the interactive lab and a Run button for the code — lives in the MySQL Course course, and every lesson in it is listed on the MySQL Course contents page.