Chapter 3: Querying Multiple Tables with Subqueries

In This Chapter

arrow Defining subqueries

arrow Discovering how subqueries work

arrow Nesting subqueries

arrow Tuning nested subqueries

arrow Tuning correlation subqueries

Relational databases have multiple tables. That’s where the word relational comes from — multiple tables that relate to each other in some way. One consequence of the distribution of data across multiple tables is that most queries need to pull data from more than one of them. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to use relational operators, which I cover in the next chapter. The other method is to use subqueries, which is the subject of this chapter.

What Is a Subquery?

A subquery is an SQL statement that is embedded within another SQL statement. It’s possible for a subquery to be embedded within another subquery, which is in turn embedded within an outermost SQL statement. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of levels of subquery that an SQL statement may include, although ...

Get SQL All-in-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.