Welcome to another blog post in our SQL Basics series! In today’s post, we will be discussing the importance of data and information in SQL Server.

When working with SQL code, it is common to come across pre-existing queries that need customization or testing. As a SQL Admin, it is crucial to have basic SQL coding skills to effectively work with these queries.

Let’s start by understanding single table queries. These queries allow us to retrieve information from a specific table in the database. For example, we can use the following query to retrieve all records and fields from the “ShoppingList” table:

SELECT * FROM ShoppingList;

In this query, the keyword “SELECT” is used to request the information to be displayed, and the asterisk (*) is a shortcut to select all the fields. The keyword “FROM” specifies the table we want to retrieve the information from.

It’s important to note that we can add non-SQL words or notes as comments in our queries. These comments are ignored by SQL Server and are intended for human readers to provide additional context or explanations. To create comments, simply start the line with two hyphen signs (–).

Table names in SQL Server can optionally be enclosed in square brackets, but it is not necessary unless the table name contains spaces or matches a SQL Server keyword. For example, if we have a table named “Shopping List”, we need to use square brackets to delimit the table name:

SELECT * FROM [Shopping List];

Without the square brackets, SQL Server would interpret the query as selecting from a table named “Shopping” and a command named “List”, resulting in an error message.

While square brackets can be useful in certain situations, they are not commonly used in coding due to the extra typing required. It is best to avoid using spaces or SQL Server keywords in table names to prevent the need for square brackets.

By understanding these concepts, you will be able to write and customize SQL queries effectively. If you want to further enhance your SQL query skills, we recommend exploring the Joes 2 Pros SQL Queries series.

Thank you for reading this post! Stay tuned for more SQL Basics articles in our series. Don’t forget to grab a copy of our book, “SQL Basics,” available in both Paperback (USA) and Kindle (Worldwide).