SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement is the foundation of querying.

You will use it constantly to inspect data, validate updates, and power application features.

Core Concepts

flowchart LR
  A[SELECT columns] --> B[FROM table]
  B --> C[Optional filters/sort/limit]
  C --> D[Result rows]

Clause	Purpose	Required
SELECT	Choose columns or expressions	Yes
FROM	Choose source table	Yes (for table queries)
WHERE	Filter rows	No
ORDER BY	Sort results	No
LIMIT	Restrict row count	No

Code Examples

-- Setup sample table.
CREATE TABLE employees (
  employee_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name        TEXT NOT NULL,
  role        TEXT NOT NULL
);

INSERT INTO employees (name, role)
VALUES
  ('Ada', 'Engineer'),
  ('Alan', 'Researcher');

Expected output
Table created and two rows inserted.

-- Basic SELECT query.
SELECT employee_id, name, role
FROM employees;

employee_id	name	role
1	Ada	Engineer
2	Alan	Researcher

SQLite-Specific Nuances

SQLite Nuance

A SELECT query in SQLite can also run without a table (for constants and expressions), for example SELECT 2 + 2;.

Common Pitfalls / Best Practices

Pitfall

Using SELECT * by default in long-term code.

Schema changes can alter output shape unexpectedly.

Best Practice

Explicitly list columns in SELECT for predictable, readable queries.

Quick Challenge

Write a query that returns only name and role from employees.

View Solution

SELECT name, role
FROM employees;

name	role
Ada	Engineer
Alan	Researcher