SQL expressions are an essential part of writing optimal code, allowing practitioners to formulate complex queries that filter, group, and aggregate data. Using expressions is critical for efficient querying and manipulating data to deliver compelling insights. Most SQL that is written in everyday practice uses some kind of SQL expression and offers an opportunity for the author to practice logical ways of manipulating data.
SQL expressions are statements that are used in code to perform calculations, comparisons, and logical operations on data stored in tables and databases. Using expressions introduces the opportunity to think creatively about a data output and is common in exploratory data analysis, dimensional cuts and segmentation work.
SQL expressions can be used in various parts of a SQL query, including SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, and ORDER BY clauses.
Some common examples of SQL expressions are:
Arithmetic Expressions:
SELECT revenue_in_cents/100 AS revenue_in_usd FROM sales_table
In the above sales_table, the revenue_in_cents column isn’t particularly valuable on its own. By using an arithmetic SQL expression to divide the revenue_in_cents by 100, the column converts to dollars, making the insights more intuitive. Renaming the column using a SQL alias makes the output data more readable.
Logical Expressions:
SELECT country, COUNT(orders) FROM orders_table WHERE price >100 AND region = ‘APAC’ GROUP BY country
In the above example, the WHERE expression is being used to filter the data in the orders_table in order to only show results where the price is >100 and the region = APAC.
As exhibited in the examples above, data queried directly from a table with no filters or expressions can be confusing to interpret and generally suboptimal. With SQL expressions, data becomes much more applicable in practice. Column values can be calculated, filtered and ordered in a few seconds by leveraging the right SQL expression.
A few valuable use cases that highlight the importance of SQL expressions are:
SQL expressions can be used in various parts of an SQL query depending on the desired data output. Here are some examples of how SQL expressions can be used in practice across a variety of data aggregation needs:
CONCAT Clause
SELECT CONCAT(first_name,’ ‘, last_name) AS full_name, (price * quantity) AS total_price FROM orders_table
In the above example, the CONCAT function is used to concatenate the first_name and last_name string columns in the orders table. The AS keyword is used to give the resulting column an alias (full_name). The multiplication operator (*) is used to calculate the total_price column by multiplying the price and quantity columns in the orders table.
GROUP BY Clause
The GROUP BY clause is used to group data based on specific columns, particularly when aggregations are being used.
SELECT region, year, AVG(total_price) AS average_price FROM sales_table GROUP BY region, year
In the above example, the GROUP BY clause groups the average_price calculation by region and year.
Date and Time Expressions
Date and time expressions in SQL are not only useful, but often necessary since most data has some kind of time component. There is an expansive list of expressions in SQL that deal with date and time data. Here are some of the most common:
Using dates as a filter with a WHERE clause as seen below:
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT order_id) AS num_orders FROM orders_table WHERE order_date >= 2022-01-01
In the above, this query only returns the number of orders that were placed since 2022-01-01.
CURRENT_DATE: This expression returns the current date in the database’s time zone. It is useful when querying data BETWEEN a starting_date and the CURRENT_DATE.
CURRENT_TIME: This expression returns the current time in the database’s time zone.
DATEADD: This expression adds a specified number of intervals (such as days, months, or years) to a date or time value. Let’s say you have a table called appointments with columns appointment_id, appointment_start_time, and duration_minutes. You want to retrieve a list of appointment start and end times, where the end time is the start time plus the duration of the appointment in minutes.
SELECT appointment_id, appointment_date, duration_minutes, DATEADD(minute, duration_minutes, appointment_start_time) AS appointment_end_time FROM appointments
Using the DATEADD expression, the appointment_end_time is simple to calculate.
DATEDIFF: This expression calculates the difference between two date or time values in a specified interval (such as days, months, or years).
For example, let’s say there is a need to quickly see the ages of all users in a table called users_table. The DATEDIFF expression can be used to calculate the age of a user by using the birth_date column and the CURRENT_DATE expression.
SELECT first_name, Last_name, DATEDIFF(year, birth_date, CURRENT_DATE()) AS age_in_years FROM users_table
From simple arithmetic operations to more complex functions like DATEADD or DATEDIFF, SQL expressions create optimal data outputs by transforming and deriving insights from a datasource. By mastering SQL expressions, it becomes easier to write efficient queries and gain valuable insights, ultimately making better decisions with data.
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