MIN

MIN is an SQL aggregate function used to return the smallest value in a selected column. It is useful in querying tables where users want to identify the smallest or least available value in datasets. MIN ignores any null values in the dataset.

Syntax:

SELECT MIN(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

In the case where column_name belongs to a numeric data type (Integers, Float, etc.), MIN returns the smallest numeric value in the column.

If column_name belongs to datetime types (Date, Time, etc.), MIN returns the earliest date or time.

If column_name belongs to string types (Char, Text, etc.), MIN returns the lowest value in lexicographic order (similar to alphabetic order).

Examples:

Consider a table, named Orders, with the following layout:

OrderID	CustomerID	OrderDate
1	C01	2020-10-10
2	C02	2020-09-05
3	C01	2020-08-21

To find the earliest order date in the Orders table, the MIN function is used in the following way:

SELECT MIN(OrderDate) AS EarliestOrder
FROM Orders;

The result of this query will be 2020-08-21.

Suppose we have a Prices table with items and their prices. To find the lowest price, use:

SELECT MIN(price) AS LowestPrice
FROM Prices;

This query will return the smallest value in the price column.

One important usage is when it is used along with the GROUP BY clause to find the minimum value in each group.

Example, to find the earliest order date for each customer:

SELECT CustomerID, MIN(OrderDate) AS EarliestOrder
FROM Orders
GROUP BY CustomerID;

This query will return the earliest order date for each customer.

MIN

Examples:​

Examples: