SQL Cheat Sheet - Fundamentals - Quick SQL syntax guide

Oct 13, 2026

Concise SQL cheat sheet covering core query fundamentals and intermediate techniques. Explains how to perform single and multiple calculations in SELECT, rename computed results with AS, and retrieve either whole tables or specific columns with correct clause precedence. Includes examples for limiting rows, adding single-line and block comments, and constructing joins using INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, and FULL OUTER join patterns. Also demonstrates ORDER BY sorting by position, subqueries with limits, combining columns via string concatenation, filtering with LIKE, and conditional logic using CASE and WITH common table expressions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Performing calculations with SQL

Performing a single calculation

Performing multiple calculations

Renaming results with AS

Selecting tables, columns, and rows

Clause order precedence

Displaying a whole table

Selecting specific columns

Limiting rows

Comments in SQL

Single-line comments

Block comments

Joins & Complex Queries

INNER JOIN

LEFT JOIN

RIGHT JOIN

FULL OUTER JOIN

ORDER BY

Joins inside subqueries with a limit

Joining more than two tables

Other common SQL operations

Combining columns into a single column

String matching with LIKE

Conditional logic with CASE

Using the WITH clause

Creating a view

UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT

Chaining WITH statements

SQL Cheat Sheet: Fundamentals Performing calculations with SQL Performing a single calculation: SELECT 1320+17; Performing multiple calculations: SELECT 1320+17, 1340-3, 7*191, 8022/6; Performing calculations with multiple numbers: SELECT 1*2*3, 1+2+3; Renaming results: SELECT 2*3 AS mult, 1+2+3 AS nice_sum; Selecting tables, columns, and rows: Remember: The order of clauses matters in SQL. SQL uses the following order of precedence: FROM, SELECT, LIMIT. Display the whole table: SELECT FROM * table_name; Select speciﬁc columns from a table: SELECT FROM column_name_ 1, column_name_2 table_name; Display the ﬁrst 10 rows on a table: SELECT FROM LIMIT * table_name; 10 ; Adding comments to your SQL queries Adding single-line comments: --First comment SELECT column_ 1, column_ 2, column_3--Second comment FROM table_name; --Third comment Adding block comments: /* This comment spans over multiple lines */ SELECT column_ 1, column_ 2, column_3 FROM table_name; SQL Intermediate: Joins & Complex Queries Many of these examples use table and column names from the real SQL databases that learners work with in our interactive SQL courses. For more information, sign up for a free account and try one out! Joining data in SQL: Joining tables with INNER JOIN: SELECT column_name_ 1, column_name_2 FROM table_name_ 1 INNER JOIN table_name_2 ON table_name_ 1 .column_name_ 1 = table_name_2 .column_name_ 1; Joining tables using a LEFT JOIN: SELECT * FROM facts LEFT JOIN cities ON cities .facts_id = [facts.id](facts.id) ; Joining tables using a RIGHT JOIN: SELECT [f](f.name)[.name](f.name) country, [c](c.name)[.name](c.name) city FROM cities c RIGHT JOIN facts f ON [f](f.id = c.facts)[.id =](f.id = c.facts)[ c](f.id = c.facts)[.facts](f.id = c.facts) ; Joining tables using a FULL OUTER JOIN: SELECT [f](f.name)[.name](f.name) country, [c](c.name)[.name](c.name) city FROM cities c FULL OUTER JOIN facts f ON [f](f.id = c.facts_id)[.id =](f.id = c.facts_id)[ c](f.id = c.facts_id)[.facts_id](f.id = c.facts_id) ; Sorting a column without specifying a column name: SELECT name, migration_ rate FROM FACTS ORDER BY 2 desc ; --2 refers to migration_ rate column Using a join within a subquery, with a limit: SELECT [c](c.name)[.name](c.name) capital_city, [f](f.name)[.name](f.name) country FROM facts f INNER JOIN ( SELECT * FROM cities WHERE capital = 1 ) c ON c .facts_id = f .id INNER 10 Joining data from more than two tables: SELECT [column_names] FROM [table_name_one] [join_type] JOIN [table_name_two] ON [join_constraint] [join_type] JOIN [table_name_three] ON [join_constraint]... ... ... [join_type] JOIN [table_name_three] ON [join_constraint] Other common SQL operations: Combining columns into a single column: SELECT album_id, artist_id, "album id is " || album_id col_ 1,"artist id is " || artist_id col2, album_id || artist_id col3 FROM album LIMIT 3 ; Matching part of a string: SELECT first_name, last_name, phone FROM customer WHERE first_name LIKE "%Jen%" ; Using if/then logic in SQL with CASE: CASE WHEN [comparison_ 1] THEN [value_ 1] WHEN [comparison_ 2] THEN [value_ 2] ELSE [value_ 3] END AS [new_column_name] Using the WITH clause: WITH track_info AS ( SELECT [t.name](t.name) , [ar.name](ar.name) artist, al.title album_name, FROM track t INNER JOIN album al ON al.album_id = t .album_id INNER JOIN artist ar ON ar .artist_id = al.artist_id) SELECT * FROM track_info WHERE album_name = "Jagged Little Pill" ; Creating a view: CREATE VIEW chinook.customer_2 AS SELECT * FROM chinook.customer; Important Concepts and Resources: Reserved words Dropping a view DROP VIEW chinook.customer_ 2; Selecting rows that occur in one or more SELECT statements: [select_statement_one] UNION [select_statement_two]; Selecting rows that occur in both SELECT statements: SELECT *

FAQs

How should SQL clauses be ordered when writing a query?

SQL requires clauses in a specific order of precedence, including FROM before SELECT and LIMIT being applied after. The cheat sheet highlights FROM, SELECT, LIMIT as the key order.

What are common ways to join tables in SQL?

The cheat sheet provides examples for INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, and FULL OUTER JOIN, each with ON join constraints. It also shows joining more than two tables using repeated JOIN clauses.

How do you add conditional logic and reuse query results in SQL?

Use CASE with WHEN/THEN/ELSE to create a computed column based on comparisons. For reuse, the sheet demonstrates the WITH clause (common table expressions) and shows how to chain multiple WITH statements.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Riley West