Overview of SELECT

The SELECT statement has the following general form:

 SELECT  columns  FROM  tables  [WHERE  conditions  ] [GROUP BY  group  [HAVING  group_conditions  ]] [ORDER BY  sort_columns  ] [LIMIT  limits  ]; 

This is not a full set of syntax ”we'll cover that in the next chapter ”but it gives you an idea of the general form of the statement. We will cover all the previously listed clauses in this chapter.

The SELECT statement has many optional clauses. You can use these or not as you choose, but they must appear in the order shown.