The SQL DISTINCT query returns only unique values by removing duplicates from the result. It uses the DISTINCT keyword to make sure the column has no repeated entries. The SQL DISTINCT Query will remove all the duplicate rows from the table or column. The returned result will be of unique values based on a specific column where the DISTINCT keyword is used. In this article, we will learn about the DISTINCT Query in SQL, its performance, and its use cases.
Table of Contents:
What is DISTINCT in SQL?
The DISTINCT keyword in SQL is used to fetch only unique values from one or more columns. It removes duplicate rows and returns only the records without any repeated values. DISTINCT can be used in a SELECT statement to specify the particular row or column on which it has to be applied.
Syntax:
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name;
Example:
CREATE TABLE employees (
id INT,
name VARCHAR(100),
department VARCHAR(50),
job_title VARCHAR(50)
);
INSERT INTO employees (id, name, department, job_title) VALUES
(1, 'Aarush', 'HR', 'Manager'),
(2, 'Binni', 'IT', 'Developer'),
(3, 'Gaurav', 'Marketing', 'Analyst');
SELECT DISTINCT department FROM employees;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the SQL SELECT DISTINCT Query returned only the unique values and neglected the duplicate records from the table.
Why Do We Need To Use DISTINCT?
The DISTINCT keyword in SQL is used to remove all duplicate data from the table. It maintains the query integrity and helps you when there is a need to fetch the data. As all the values are unique, fetching the values will be easier. This DISTINCT keyword is very useful when handling reports or any important logs.
When to Use DISTINCT?
We can use the DISTINCT keyword in SQL when we are querying a large dataset, where duplicates are inevitable. There will be unnecessary duplicates that need to be deleted at that time. The DISTINCT keyword is used to remove duplicates in SQL. When you need to create reports with all the unique values, you can use DISTINCT.
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How to Use SELECT DISTINCT in SQL Queries?
There are two syntaxes that can be used in single and SELECT DISTINCT with multiple columns to get the unique records from the database. When multiple columns are selected, DISTINCT is used to return a unique combination of values across those columns. It won’t apply to individual columns. It may affect the performance when working on a large dataset, as it needs to scan every column in the database to remove duplicates in SQL.
Let’s create a dataset to get unique values from a single column and multiple columns.
Example:
CREATE TABLE orders (
order_id INT,
customer_name VARCHAR(50),
product_name VARCHAR(50)
);
INSERT INTO orders (order_id, customer_name, product_name) VALUES
(1, 'Karan', 'Laptop'),
(2, 'Yuva', 'Phone'),
(3, 'Karan', 'Laptop'),
(4, 'Yuva', 'Tablet'),
(5, 'Karan', 'Phone')
SQL SELECT DISTINCT for a Single Column
You can apply the DISTINCT keyword in SQL to a particular column to get only the unique values from the table.
Syntax:
SELECT DISTINCT column_name
FROM table_name;
Example:
SELECT DISTINCT customer_name FROM orders;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the DISTINCT keyword fetched a single column (customer_name) from the orders table. Even though there are two Karan and two Yuva names in the table, the distinct keyword removed the duplicates and fetched only the unique values.
SELECT DISTINCT for Multiple Columns: How It Works?
You can use SELECT DISTINCT with multiple columns at the same time to get all the unique or distinct values from multiple columns.
Syntax:
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2
FROM table_name;
Example:
CREATE TABLE orders (
order_id INT,
customer_name VARCHAR(50),
product_name VARCHAR(50)
);
INSERT INTO orders (order_id, customer_name, product_name) VALUES
(1, 'Karan', 'Laptop'),
(2, 'Yuva', 'Phone'),
(3, 'Karan', 'Laptop'),
(4, 'Yuva', 'Tablet'),
(5, 'Karan', 'Charger');
SELECT DISTINCT customer_name, product_name FROM orders;
Output:
Explanation: Though the customer name returned twice, their product name differs, so the SELECT DISTINCT with multiple columns compares the two columns and returns the SQL SELECT DISTINCT values.
SQL DISTINCT with ORDER BY, WHERE, and LIMIT
The DISTINCT can be used with other clauses in SQL, like ORDER BY, WHERE, and LIMIT Clauses.
Let’s create a dataset to perform DISTINCT with other SQL Clauses.
CREATE TABLE customers (
customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
customer_name VARCHAR(50),
city VARCHAR(50),
states VARCHAR(50)
);
INSERT INTO customers (customer_id, customer_name, city, states) VALUES
(1, 'Johar', 'Mumbai', 'Maharashtra'),
(2, 'Babu', 'Lucknow', 'UP'),
(3, 'Tinku', 'Punjab', 'Chandigarh'),
(4, 'Chahar', 'Lucknow', 'UP');
SELECT * FROM customers;
Output:
This is how the table looks before applying other SQL Clauses.
1. DISTINCT with ORDER BY in SQL
In a table, the DISTINCT will filter the duplicates from the table, and then the ORDER BY will sort the result based on the condition.
Example:
SELECT DISTINCT city FROM customers
ORDER BY city ASC;
Output:
Explanation: The DISTINCT first removed the duplicates, and then the ORDER BY arranged the city names in ascending order.
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2. DISTINCT with WHERE Clause in SQL
The WHERE clause will first filter the table based on a specific condition, and then the DISTINCT will apply to that to remove duplicates in SQL.
Example:
SELECT DISTINCT city
FROM customers
WHERE states = 'UP'
Output:
Explanation: Here, the WHERE clause filtered the states named as “UP,” then the DISTINCT fetched the cities that matched the states.
3. DISTINCT with LIMIT in SQL
The DISTINCT will eliminate all the duplicates, and then the LIMIT clause will limit the number of data points to be printed.
Example:
SELECT DISTINCT states
FROM customers
LIMIT 4;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the SQL SELECT DISTINCT keyword first removes all duplicate state names from the customers table. Then, the LIMIT 4 clause restricts the output to only 4 unique state entries.
DISTINCT with Aggregate Functions in SQL
Many aggregate functions in SQL can be used with DISTINCT to fetch the unique values.
1. Using COUNT() with DISTINCT in SQL
The DISTINCT will filter the table with only unique values, and the COUNT() function will count the number of unique values present in the table.
Example:
SELECT COUNT(*) AS total_customers FROM customers;
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT city) AS unique_cities FROM customers;
Output:
Explanation: The COUNT() first counted the number of customers, and then the DISTINCT keyword fetched the cities the customer name matched with, then filtered the unique cities from them, and then the COUNT function counted the number of unique cities.
2. Using SUM() with DISTINCT in SQL
The SUM() function adds all the total orders from the table. But if we apply DISTINCT to it, the SUM() will add the unique orders from the table.
Example:
CREATE TABLE customers (
customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
customer_name VARCHAR(20),
city VARCHAR(20),
states VARCHAR(20)
);
INSERT INTO customers (customer_id, customer_name, city, states) VALUES
(1, 'Johar', 'Mumbai', 'Maharashtra'),
(2, 'Babu', 'Lucknow', 'UP'),
(3, 'Tinku', 'Punjab', 'Chandigarh'),
(4, 'Chahar', 'Lucknow', 'UP');
ALTER TABLE customers ADD total_orders INT;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 5 WHERE customer_id = 1;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 3 WHERE customer_id = 2;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 3 WHERE customer_id = 3;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 6 WHERE customer_id = 4;
SELECT SUM(DISTINCT total_orders) AS total_order_sum_distinct
FROM customers;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the SQL DISTINCT query is used in a SELECT statement to return only unique (non-duplicate) rows from a table.
3. Using AVG() with DISTINCT in SQL
The AVG() will get the average number of customers based on the orders, and then the DISTINCT will filter out the duplicates.
Example:
ALTER TABLE customers ADD total_orders INT;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 5 WHERE customer_id = 1;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 3 WHERE customer_id = 2;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 4 WHERE customer_id = 3;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 6 WHERE customer_id = 4;
SELECT AVG(DISTINCT total_orders) AS avg_distinct_orders
FROM customers;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the average of four orders will be 3.75, but we used DISTINCT, so it fetched only the unique value and calculated the average of only the distinct value. So, the total orders after using DISTINCT are 4.
Creating SQL Views with DISTINCT in MySQL
The Views can be used when you want to fetch the unique values frequently. It will work best on a MySQL server.
Example:
CREATE TABLE customers (
customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
customer_name VARCHAR(20),
city VARCHAR(20),
states VARCHAR(20)
);
INSERT INTO customers (customer_id, customer_name, city, states) VALUES
(1, 'Johar', 'Mumbai', 'Maharashtra'),
(2, 'Babu', 'Lucknow', 'UP'),
(3, 'Tinku', 'Punjab', 'Chandigarh'),
(4, 'Chahar', 'Lucknow', 'UP');
CREATE VIEW distinct_cities AS
SELECT DISTINCT city FROM customers;
ALTER TABLE customers ADD total_orders INT;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 5 WHERE customer_id = 1;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 3 WHERE customer_id = 2;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 3 WHERE customer_id = 3;
UPDATE customers SET total_orders = 6 WHERE customer_id = 4;
SELECT * FROM distinct_cities;
Output:
Explanation: The VIEW fetched the unique city names. As DISTINCT already filters the unique city names by comparing them with customers.
Best Practices for Using SELECT DISTINCT in SQL
- DISTINCT should be used when it is necessary. So, make sure that before using DISTINCT, there are no duplicates.
- In many situations, DISTINCT with JOINS can be used to remove duplicates that occurred due to many-to-many relationships.
- If the query has an index in it. Then using DISTINCT will improve the performance speed.
- Using LIMIT with DISTINCT will reduce the processing time, as the LIMIT will reduce the size of the column.
- If you want to use an aggregate function, prefer using GROUP BY over DISTINCT.
- Avoid using SQL SELECT DISTINCT * unless necessary. Always specify the columns to optimize query performance.”
SQL DISTINCT vs GROUP BY: Key Differences
| GROUP BY |
DISTINCT |
| It will only group the data that matches with each other. |
The DISTINCT clause in SQL will filter out all duplicates from the column. |
| It is used with the help of aggregate functions. |
This keyword is used for getting unique values. |
| It will group data for further calculations. |
The DISTINCT clause in SQL removes duplicate rows by comparing values across selected columns, returning unique rows. |
SELECT column1, COUNT(*)
FROM table_name
GROUP BY column1;
|
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2
FROM table_name;
|
SELECT DISTINCT in Real-World SQL Use Cases
Below are the real-world examples of SQL DISTINCT queries.
Case 1: List of customers located at different locations
Example:
CREATE TABLE ecommerce_customers (
customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
customer_name VARCHAR(50),
email VARCHAR(100),
states VARCHAR(50)
);
INSERT INTO ecommerce_customers (customer_id, customer_name, email, states) VALUES
(1, 'Ayaan', '[email protected]', 'USA'),
(2, 'Baskar', '[email protected]', 'Canada'),
(3, 'Charith', '[email protected]', 'USA'),
(4, 'Praveen', '[email protected]', 'UK'),
(5, 'Daku', '[email protected]', 'Canada');
SELECT DISTINCT states FROM ecommerce_customers;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the DISTINCT filtered all the unique cities where customers are located.
Case 2: Listing the courses that Intellipaat is offering to students.
Example:
CREATE TABLE course_enrollments (
student_id INT,
course_id INT,
course_name VARCHAR(100)
);
INSERT INTO course_enrollments (student_id, course_id, course_name) VALUES
(101, 1, 'Python Basics'),
(102, 1, 'Python Basics'),
(103, 2, 'Data Science'),
(101, 2, 'Data Science'),
(104, 3, 'Web Development');
SELECT DISTINCT course_name FROM course_enrollments;
Output:
Explanation: Here, the DISTINCT filtered out all the unique courses and removed the duplicate courses.
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Conclusion
The SQL DISTINCT is a keyword that is used to remove duplicates from the query result. This makes sure that there are no duplicates and all the data in the row and column is unique. This will be very helpful when you need to filter the data, for data analysis and reporting. DISTINCT should be handled carefully and should be used when it is necessary, as it may reduce the query performance. In this blog, you have learned about the DISTINCT clause in SQL, when to use it, how to use it, and its performance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What does SELECT DISTINCT do?
It returns unique (non-duplicate) rows based on the selected columns.
Q2. Does DISTINCT apply to all columns in the query?
Yes, it considers all selected columns together for uniqueness.
Q3. Is SELECT DISTINCT the same as GROUP BY?
No, DISTINCT removes duplicates, while GROUP BY is used for aggregation.
Q4. Can DISTINCT be used with ORDER BY or LIMIT?
Yes, it works fine with both to sort or limit the unique results.
Q5. How to use SELECT DISTINCT in SQL?
Use SELECT DISTINCT column_name FROM table_name to retrieve only unique values from a column in SQL.