Advanced SQL Concepts
Advanced SQL commands offer powerful functionality that allow you to conduct complex queries and operations on your database. These include operations like Stored Procedures, Triggers, Views, and more.
Stored Procedures
A stored procedure is a prepared SQL code that you save, so the code can be reused over and over again. They are particularly useful when repetitive tasks need to be performed, with less client-server communication.
CREATE PROCEDURE procedure_name
AS
sql_statement
GO;
Triggers
A Trigger is a SQL procedure that initiates an action when an event (INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE) occurs. Triggers are useful for maintaining integrity in the database. Triggers can also be used to log historical data.
CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name
ON table_name
FOR INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE
AS
-- SQL Statements
Views
A view is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. It allows you to view data that is derived from other tables. A view contains rows and columns, just like a real table. The fields in a view are fields from one or more real tables in the database.
CREATE VIEW view_name AS
SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;
JOINs
JOINs are used to combine rows from two or more tables, based on a related column between them. Types include INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, FULL OUTER JOIN.
SELECT Orders.OrderID, Customers.CustomerName
FROM Orders
INNER JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.CustomerID;
Subqueries
A subquery is a query that is embedded in the WHERE or HAVING clause of another SQL query. Subqueries can return individual values or a list of records.
SELECT column_name [, column_name ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
WHERE column_name OPERATOR
(SELECT column_name [, column_name ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE])
Set Operators
Set operators allow the results of multiple queries to be combined into a single result set. The UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and MINUS operators are some of the set operators.
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table1
UNION
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table2;
Note: Make sure to adjust the code examples given above according to your specific use case. In some cases, you may also need to adjust them according to the syntax of the specific SQL variant that you are using.
Also, it's important to note that these are some of the many advanced SQL topics. There are others like Window functions, CTEs, Pivoting and more. Another important area is working with different database systems as each system (like MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) has its own specific set of features and syntax.