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SQL - Keys

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SQL - Keys

Uploaded by

Sozha Vendhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Anil Patel Architect-Data

@aniltppatel Engineering & Analytics


Career Transition Coach

Types of Keys in
SQL
for Interview

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Types of Keys in SQL
1.Primary Key
2.Foreign Key
3.Unique Key
4.Composite Key
5.Candidate Key
6.Alternate Key
7. Surrogate key

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Primary Key
A primary key is a unique
identifier for each record in a
table.

Example -
Suppose you have a table called
Students with the following
columns:
StudentID (Primary Key)
FirstName
LastName
DateOfBirth
Email

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Foreign Key
A foreign key -Column(s)
referencing primary key of
another table for relationship

Example -
Consider two tables, "Customers" and
"Orders", with the following columns:
Customers:
CustomerID (primary key)
Name
Email
Orders:
OrderID (primary key)
CustomerID (foreign key)
OrderDate
TotalAmount

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Unique Key
A unique key is a column or
combination of columns that
ensures each value is unique
within a table. It is similar to a
primary key but allows null
value

Example - a unique key in a table


called "Employees":
Table: Employees
EmployeeID (primary key)
Email (unique key)
Name
Address

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Composite Key
Composite key is a
combination of two or more
columns that collectively serve
as a unique identifier for a
record.

Each column in the composite key


can have duplicate values, but the
combination of all columns must
be unique
Example -
Table: Sales
ProductID (part of composite key)
OrderID (part of composite key)
Quantity
Price

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Candidate Key
A candidate key is a column or
combination of columns that
can uniquely identify a record
in a table. It can be chosen as
the primary key, but it is not
mandatory

Example -
Candidate key in a table called "Books":
Table: Books
ISBN (candidate key)
BookID (candidate key)
Title
Author
PublicationYear
The candidate key constraint ensures that
no two books can have the same ISBN or
BookID
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Alternate Key
An alternate key is a candidate
key that is not chosen as the
primary key. It can be used as a
unique identifier for records

Example -
An alternate key in a table called
"Students":
Table: Students
StudentID (primary key)
RollNumber (alternate key)
Name
Email
the StudentID column serves as the primary
key, uniquely identifying each student
record. The RollNumber column, on the other
hand, is an alternate key

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Surrogate Key
A surrogate key is a system-
generated unique identifier added
to a table for the sole purpose of
identifying records. It has no
intrinsic meaning
Example -a surrogate key in a table called
"Employees":
Table: Employees
EmployeeID (surrogate key)
FirstName
LastName
Email

the EmployeeID column serves as the


surrogate key. It is typically an auto-
incrementing integer value generated by
the database system. The surrogate key
ensures that each new record in the table is
assigned a unique EmployeeID

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Architect-Data
Engineering & Analytics
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Anil Patel
@aniltppatel

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