Subqueries, or nested SELECT statements, are queries written inside another query.

They are often

used to perform intermediate calculations or to filter data before applying additional logic. Here's a
breakdown of how they work and examples of common use cases.

Syntax

A subquery is usually enclosed in parentheses and can appear in:

• WHERE Clause: To filter data based on another query.

• FROM Clause: To create a temporary table for further queries.

• SELECT Clause: To calculate values for each row.

SELECT column1, column2

FROM table1

WHERE column3 = (SELECT column4 FROM table2 WHERE condition);

Types of Subqueries

1. Single-row Subquery: Returns one value (a single row and column).

2. Multi-row Subquery: Returns multiple rows (a single column).

3. Multi-column Subquery: Returns multiple columns (and possibly multiple rows).

4. Correlated Subquery: References columns from the outer query and executes repeatedly for
each row of the outer query.

Examples

1. Subquery in the WHERE Clause

Find employees who earn more than the average salary.

SELECT employee_name

FROM employees

WHERE salary > (SELECT AVG(salary) FROM employees);

2. Subquery in the FROM Clause

Create a temporary result set to calculate aggregates.

SELECT department_id, MAX(average_salary)

FROM (SELECT department_id, AVG(salary) AS average_salary

FROM employees

GROUP BY department_id) AS dept_avg;

3. Subquery in the SELECT Clause

Retrieve each employee's salary as a percentage of the total salary.

SELECT employee_name,

(salary / (SELECT SUM(salary) FROM employees)) * 100 AS salary_percentage

FROM employees;

4. Correlated Subquery

Find employees whose salaries are greater than the average salary in their department.

SELECT employee_name

FROM employees e1

WHERE salary > (SELECT AVG(salary)

FROM employees e2

WHERE e1.department_id = e2.department_id);

Key Considerations

1. Performance: Subqueries can be slower than joins or Common Table Expressions (CTEs) for
large datasets.

2. Nesting Levels: Too many nested subqueries can make queries harder to read and maintain.

3. Use of EXISTS or IN:

o Use EXISTS for checking the existence of rows.

o Use IN when comparing a value with multiple possible matches.

Commonly used SQL functions for data analysis.

SQL offers a wide range of functions that are extremely useful for data analysis. These functions can
be categorized into aggregate functions, string functions, date/time functions, and window
functions. Here's a breakdown:

1. Aggregate Functions

Used to perform calculations on a group of rows and return a single result.

Function Description Example

SUM() Calculates the total sum of a column. SELECT SUM(sales) FROM orders;

AVG() Calculates the average value. SELECT AVG(salary) FROM employees;

Function Description Example

COUNT() Counts rows or non-NULL values. SELECT COUNT(*) FROM customers;

MIN() Finds the smallest value. SELECT MIN(price) FROM products;

MAX() Finds the largest value. SELECT MAX(price) FROM products;

Concatenates values within a group SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(name) FROM

GROUP_CONCAT()
(MySQL). students;

2. String Functions

Used to manipulate and format string data.

Function Description Example

SELECT CONCAT(first_name, ' ',

CONCAT() Combines multiple strings.
last_name);

UPPER() / Converts text to uppercase or

SELECT UPPER(name) FROM customers;
LOWER() lowercase.

SELECT SUBSTRING(name, 1, 3) FROM

SUBSTRING() Extracts part of a string.
users;

Removes spaces or characters from

TRIM() SELECT TRIM(' hello ');
ends.

SELECT CHAR_LENGTH(name) FROM

CHAR_LENGTH() Returns the length of a string.
students;

Replaces a substring with another

REPLACE() SELECT REPLACE(name, 'John', 'Jane');
string.

3. Date and Time Functions

Used for date/time manipulation and formatting.

Function Description Example

NOW() Returns the current timestamp. SELECT NOW();

CURDATE() Returns the current date. SELECT CURDATE();

Calculates days between two SELECT DATEDIFF('2024-12-01', '2024-11-

DATEDIFF()
dates. 01');

DATE_ADD() / Adds or subtracts days to a SELECT DATE_ADD(NOW(), INTERVAL 7

Function Description Example

DATE_SUB() date. DAY);

YEAR(), MONTH(), DAY() Extracts components of a date. SELECT YEAR(order_date) FROM orders;

FORMAT() Formats a date or number. SELECT FORMAT(NOW(), 'yyyy-MM-dd');

4. Mathematical Functions

Used for numerical operations.

Function Description Example

ROUND() Rounds a number to a specified number of digits. SELECT ROUND(price, 2) FROM products;

FLOOR() Rounds down to the nearest integer. SELECT FLOOR(9.99);

CEIL() Rounds up to the nearest integer. SELECT CEIL(9.01);

ABS() Returns the absolute value. SELECT ABS(-5);

MOD() Returns the remainder of a division. SELECT MOD(10, 3);

POWER() Raises a number to a power. SELECT POWER(2, 3);

5. Window Functions

Perform calculations across a set of table rows related to the current row.

Function Description Example

Assigns a unique number to SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY

ROW_NUMBER()
each row. salary);

Assigns a rank, skipping SELECT RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY dept

RANK()
numbers for ties. ORDER BY salary);

Assigns a rank without SELECT DENSE_RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY

DENSE_RANK()
skipping numbers. dept ORDER BY salary);

Divides rows into specified

NTILE() SELECT NTILE(4) OVER (ORDER BY salary);
buckets.

Accesses subsequent or prior SELECT salary, LEAD(salary) OVER (ORDER BY

LEAD() / LAG()
rows. salary);

SUM() / AVG() with Computes aggregates within

SELECT SUM(salary) OVER (PARTITION BY dept);
OVER a window.
6. Conditional Functions

Used to apply logic in SQL queries.

Function Description Example

SELECT CASE WHEN salary > 50000 THEN 'High' ELSE

CASE Implements conditional logic.
'Low' END FROM employees;

Returns the first non-NULL

COALESCE() SELECT COALESCE(phone, 'N/A') FROM users;
value.

Returns NULL if two

NULLIF() SELECT NULLIF(10, 10);
expressions are equal.

Combining Functions for Advanced Analysis

You can combine these functions to analyze data more effectively:

COde

SELECT department,

COUNT(employee_id) AS employee_count,

AVG(salary) AS avg_salary,

MAX(hire_date) AS latest_hire

FROM employees

GROUP BY department

HAVING AVG(salary) > 50000;