PostgreSQL - SELECT

The SELECT statement in PostgreSQL is used to retrieve data from one or more tables. It allows you to fetch specific columns or all columns.

• Supports filtering with the WHERE clause.
• Can be combined with ORDER BY, GROUP BY, HAVING and LIMIT.

Syntax

SELECT column_1, column_2, ...
FROM table_name;

To retrieve all columns:

SELECT *
FROM table_name;

Where:

• column_1, column_2, ...: The columns to retrieve.
• table_name: The table from which data is fetched.

Working with Select Statement

First, create the following books table, which will be used in the examples below.

Example 1: Retrieve All Columns

The following query retrieves all records from the books table.

SELECT * FROM books;

Output:

• The SELECT * statement retrieves all columns from the books table.

Example 2: Retrieve Specific Columns

The following query retrieves only the book_title and price columns.

SELECT book_title, price FROM books;

Output:

• The query retrieves only the specified columns instead of all columns.

Example 3: Retrieve Data Using WHERE Clause

The following query retrieves books whose price is greater than 600.

SELECT book_title, price FROM books WHERE price > 600;

Output:

Example 4: Retrieve Data Using ORDER BY

The following query retrieves all books sorted by price in descending order.

SELECT * FROM books ORDER BY price DESC;

Output: