SQL QUERIES FOR INTERVIEW

1. How to select UNIQUE records

from a table using a SQL Query?
Consider below EMPLOYEE table as the source data
CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE (
EMPLOYEE_ID NUMBER(6,0),
NAME VARCHAR2(20),
SALARY NUMBER(8,2)
);

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(100,'Jennifer',4400);

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(100,'Jennifer',4400);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(101,'Michael',13000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(101,'Michael',13000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(101,'Michael',13000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(102,'Pat',6000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(102,'Pat',6000); INSERT
INTO EMPLOYEE(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(103,'Den',11000);

SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEE;

EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY

100 Jennifer 4400
100 Jennifer 4400
101 Michael 13000
101 Michael 13000
101 Michael 13000
102 Pat 6000
102 Pat 6000
103 Den 11000
METHOD-1: Using GROUP BY Function
GROUP BY clause is used with SELECT statement to collect data from
multiple records and group the results by one or more columns. The GROUP
BY clause returns one row per group. By applying GROUP BY function on all
the source columns, unique records can be queried from the table.
Below is the query to fetch the unique records using GROUP BY function.
Query:
SELECT EMPLOYEE_ID,
NAME,
SALARY
FROM EMPLOYEE
GROUP BY EMPLOYEE_ID, NAME, SALARY; Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
100 Jennifer 4400
101 Michael 13000
102 Pat 6000
103 Den 11000

METHOD-2: Using ROW_NUMBER Analytic Function

The ROW_NUMBER Analytic function is used to provide consecutive
numbering of the rows in the result by the ORDER selected for each
PARTITION specified in the OVER clause. It will assign the value 1 for the first
row and increase the number of the subsequent rows.
Using ROW_NUMBER Analytic function, assign row numbers to each unique set of
records.
Query:
SELECT EMPLOYEE_ID,
NAME,
SALARY,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY ORDER BY
EMPLOYEE_ID) AS ROW_NUMBER
FROM EMPLOYEE;
Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY ROW_NUMBER
100 Jennifer 4400 1
100 Jennifer 4400 2
101 Michael 13000 1
 101 Michael 13000 2
101 Michael 13000 3
102 Pat 6000 1
102 Pat 6000 2
103 Den 11000 1
Once row numbers are assigned, by querying the rows with row number 1 will give
the unique records from the table.
Query:
SELECT EMPLOYEE_ID, NAME, SALARY
FROM( SELECT
EMPLOYEE_ID,
NAME,
SALARY,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY ORDER BY
EMPLOYEE_ID) AS ROW_NUMBER
FROM EMPLOYEE) WHERE
ROW_NUMBER = 1;
Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
101 Michael 13000
100 Jennifer 4400
102 Pat 6000
103 Den 11000

2. How to delete DUPLICATE records

from a table using a SQL Query?
Consider the same EMPLOYEE table as source discussed in previous question
METHOD-1: Using ROWID and ROW_NUMBER
Analytic Function
An Oracle server assigns each row in each table with a unique ROWID to
identify the row in the table. The ROWID is the address of the row which
contains the data object number, the data block of the row, the row position
and data file.
STEP-1: Using ROW_NUMBER Analytic function, assign row numbers to each unique set
of records. Select ROWID of the rows along with the source columns Query:
SELECT ROWID,
EMPLOYEE_ID,
NAME,SALARY,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY ORDER BY
EMPLOYEE_ID) AS ROW_NUMBER
FROM EMPLOYEE; Result:
ROWID EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY ROW_NUMBER
AAASnBAAEAAAC
100 Jennifer 4400 1
rWAAA
AAASnBAAEAAAC
100 Jennifer 4400 2
rWAAB
AAASnBAAEAAAC
101 Michael 13000 1
rWAAC
AAASnBAAEAAAC
101 Michael 13000 2
rWAAD
AAASnBAAEAAAC
101 Michael 13000 3
rWAAE
AAASnBAAEAAAC
102 Pat 6000 1
rWAAF
AAASnBAAEAAAC
102 Pat 6000 2
rWAAG
AAASnBAAEAAAC
103 Den 11000 1
rWAAH
STEP-2: Select ROWID of records with ROW_NUMBER > 1 Query:
SELECT ROWID FROM(
SELECT ROWID,
EMPLOYEE_ID,
NAME,
SALARY,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY ORDER BY
EMPLOYEE_ID) AS ROW_NUMBER
 FROM EMPLOYEE) WHERE
ROW_NUMBER > 1; Result:
ROWID
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAAB
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAAD
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAAE
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAAG
STEP-3: Delete the records from the source table using the ROWID values fetched in
previous step Query:
DELETE FROM EMP WHERE ROWID IN (
SELECT ROWID FROM(
SELECT ROWID,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY ORDER BY
EMPLOYEE_ID) AS ROW_NUMBER
FROM EMPLOYEE) WHERE
ROW_NUMBER > 1); Result:

The table EMPLOYEE will have below records after deleting the duplicates
ROWID EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
100 Jennifer 4400
A
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
101 Michael 13000
C
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
102 Pat 6000
F
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
103 Den 11000
H
METHOD-2: Using ROWID and Correlated subquery
Correlated subquery is used for row-by-row processing. With a normal nested
subquery, the inner SELECT query runs once and executes first. The returning
values will be used by the main query. A correlated subquery, however,
executes once for every row of the outer query. In other words, the inner query
is driven by the outer query.
In the below query, we are comparing the ROWIDs’ of the unique set of records and
keeping the record with MIN ROWID and deleting all other rows.
Query:
DELETE FROM EMPLOYEE A WHERE ROWID > (SELECT MIN(ROWID) FROM EMPLOYEE B WHERE
B.EMPLOYEE_ID = A.EMPLOYEE_ID ); Result:
The table EMPLOYEE will have below records after deleting the duplicates
ROWID EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
100 Jennifer 4400
A
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
101 Michael 13000
C
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
102 Pat 6000
F
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
103 Den 11000
H
The opposite of above discussed case can be implemented by keeping the record
with MAX ROWID from the unique set of records and delete all other duplicates by
executing below query.
Query:
DELETE FROM EMPLOYEE A WHERE ROWID < (SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM EMPLOYEE B WHERE
B.EMPLOYEE_ID = A.EMPLOYEE_ID ); Result:

The table EMPLOYEE will have below records after deleting the duplicates
ROWID EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
100 Jennifer 4400
A
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
101 Michael 13000
C
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
102 Pat 6000
F
AAASnBAAEAAACrWAA
103 Den 11000
H
3. How to read TOP 5 records from a
table using a SQL query?
Consider below table DEPARTMENTS as the source data
CREATE TABLE Departments(
Department_ID number,
Department_Name varchar(50)
);

INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('10','Administration');

INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('20','Marketing');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('30','Purchasing');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('40','Human Resources');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('50','Shipping');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('60','IT');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('70','Public Relations');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENTS VALUES('80','Sales');

SELECT * FROM Departments;

DEPARTMENT_ID DEPARTMENT_NAME
10 Administration
20 Marketing
30 Purchasing
40 Human Resources
50 Shipping
60 IT
70 Public Relations
80 Sales
ROWNUM is a “Pseudocolumn” that assigns a number to each row returned
by a query indicating the order in which Oracle selects the row from a table.
The first row selected has a ROWNUM of 1, the second has 2, and so on.
Query:
SELECT * FROM Departments WHERE ROWNUM <= 5; Result:
DEPARTMENT_ID DEPARTMENT_NAME
10 Administration
20 Marketing
30 Purchasing
40 Human Resources
50 Shipping
4. How to read LAST 5 records from a
table using a SQL query?
Consider the same DEPARTMENTS table as source discussed in previous question.
In order to select the last 5 records we need to find (count of total number of records
– 5) which gives the count of records from first to last but 5 records.
Using the MINUS function we can compare all records from DEPARTMENTS table
with records from first to last but 5 from DEPARTMENTS table which give the last
5 records of the table as result.
MINUS operator is used to return all rows in the first SELECT statement that
are not present in the second SELECT statement.
Query:
SELECT * FROM Departments

MINUS

SELECT * FROM Departments WHERE ROWNUM <= (SELECT COUNT(*)-5 FROM

Departments); Result:
DEPARTMENT_ID DEPARTMENT_NAME
40 Human Resources
50 Shipping
60 IT
70 Public Relations
80 Sales

5. What is the result of Normal Join,

Left Outer Join, Right Outer Join and
Full Outer Join between the tables A
& B?
Table_A
COL
1
1
0
null

Table_B
COL
1
0
null
null

Normal Join:
Normal Join or Inner Join is the most common type of join. It returns the rows
that are exact match between both the tables.
The following Venn diagram illustrates a Normal join when combining two result sets:
Query:
SELECT a.COL as A,
b.COL as B
FROM TABLE_A a JOIN TABLE_B b
ON a.COL = b.COL; Result:
A B
1 1
1 1
0 0

Left Outer Join:

The Left Outer Join returns all the rows from the left table and only the
matching rows from the right table. If there is no matching row found from the
right table, the left outer join will have NULL values for the columns from right
table.
The following Venn diagram illustrates a Left join when combining two result sets:
Query:
SELECT a.COL as A,
b.COL as B
FROM TABLE_A a LEFT OUTER JOIN TABLE_B b
ON a.COL = b.COL; Result:
A B
1 1
1 1
0 0
NULL NULL

Right Outer Join:

The Right Outer Join returns all the rows from the right table and only the
matching rows from the left table. If there is no matching row found from the
left table, the right outer join will have NULL values for the columns from left
table.
The following Venn diagram illustrates a Right join when combining two result sets:
Query:
SELECT a.COL as A,
b.COL as B
FROM TABLE_A a RIGHT OUTER JOIN TABLE_B b
ON a.COL = b.COL; Result:
A B
1 1
1 1
0 0
NULL NULL
NULL NULL

Full Outer Join:

The Full Outer Join returns all the rows from both the right table and the left
table. If there is no matching row found, the missing side columns will have
NULL values.
The following Venn diagram illustrates a Full join when combining two result sets:
Query:
SELECT a.COL as A,
b.COL as B
FROM TABLE_A a FULL OUTER JOIN TABLE_B b
ON a.COL = b.COL; Result:
A B
1 1
1 1
0 0
NULL NULL
NULL NULL
NULL NULL
NOTE: NULL do not match with NULL

6. How to find the employee with

second MAX Salary using a SQL
query?
Consider below EMPLOYEES table as the source data
CREATE TABLE Employees(
EMPLOYEE_ID NUMBER(6,0),
NAME VARCHAR2(20 BYTE),
SALARY NUMBER(8,2)
);

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(100,'Jennifer',4400);

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(101,'Michael',13000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(102,'Pat',6000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(103,'Den', 11000);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(104,'Alexander',3100);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(105,'Shelli',2900);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(106,'Sigal',2800);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(107,'Guy',2600); INSERT
INTO EMPLOYEES(EMPLOYEE_ID,NAME,SALARY) VALUES(108,'Karen',2500);

SELECT * FROM Employees;

EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
100 Jennifer 4400
101 Michael 13000
102 Pat 6000
103 Den 11000
104 Alexander 3100
105 Shelli 2900
106 Sigel 2800
107 Guy 2600
108 Karen 2500

METHOD-1: Without using SQL Analytic Functions

In order to find the second MAX salary, employee record with MAX salary needs to
be eliminated. It can be achieved by using below SQL query.
Query:
SELECT MAX(salary) AS salary FROM Employees WHERE salary NOT IN (
SELECT MAX(salary) AS salary FROM Employees); Result:
SALARY
11000
The above query only gives the second MAX salary value. In order to fetch the
entire employee record with second MAX salary we need to do a self-join on
Employee table based on Salary value.
Query:
WITH
TEMP AS(
SELECT MAX(salary) AS salary FROM Employees WHERE salary NOT IN (
SELECT MAX(salary) AS salary FROM Employees)
)
SELECT a.* FROM Employees a JOIN TEMP b on a.salary = b.salary Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
103 Den 11000

METHOD-2: Using SQL Analytic Functions

Query:

The DENSE_RANK is an analytic function that calculates the rank of a row in

an ordered set of rows starting from 1. Unlike the RANK function, the
DENSE_RANK function returns rank values as consecutive integers.
SELECT Employee_Id,
Name,
Salary
FROM(
SELECT Employees.*,
DENSE_RANK() OVER(ORDER BY Salary DESC) as SALARY_RANK
FROM Employees) WHERE SALARY_RANK =2 Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
103 Den 11000
By replacing the value of SALARY_RANK, any highest salary rank can be found easily.

7. How to find the employee with third

MAX Salary using a SQL query
without using Analytic Functions?
Consider the same EMPLOYEES table as source discussed in previous
question
In order to find the third MAX salary, we need to eliminate the top 2 salary records.
But we cannot use the same method we used for finding second MAX salary (not a
best practice). Imagine if we have to find the fifth MAX salary. We should not be
writing a query with four nested sub queries.
STEP-1:

The approach here is to first list all the records based on Salary in the descending
order with MAX salary on top and MIN salary at bottom. Next, using ROWNUM
select the top 2 records.
Query:
SELECT salary FROM(
SELECT salary FROM Employees ORDER BY salary DESC)
WHERE ROWNUM < 3; Result:
Salary
13000
11000
STEP-2:

Next find the MAX salary from EMPLOYEE table which is not one of top two salary
values fetched in the earlier step.
Query:
SELECT MAX(salary) as salary FROM Employees WHERE salary NOT IN (
SELECT salary FROM(
SELECT salary FROM Employees ORDER BY salary DESC)
WHERE ROWNUM < 3 );
Result:

SALARY
6000
STEP-3:

In order to fetch the entire employee record with third MAX salary we need to do a
self-join on Employee table based on Salary value.
Query:
WITH
TEMP AS(
SELECT MAX(salary) as salary FROM Employees WHERE salary NOT IN (
 SELECT salary FROM(
SELECT salary FROM Employees ORDER BY salary DESC)
WHERE ROWNUM < 3)
)
SELECT a.* FROM Employees a join TEMP b on a.salary = b.salary Result:
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME SALARY
102 Pat 6000
In order to find the employee with nth highest salary, replace the rownum value with n in
above query.