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🟣 T-SQL interview questions and answers to help you prepare for your next technical interview in 2024.

100 Essential T-SQL Interview Questions

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1. What is T-SQL and how is it different from standard SQL?

Transact-SQL (T-SQL) is an extension of SQL that's specific to Microsoft SQL Server. It includes functionalities such as procedural programming, local variables, and exception handling through TRY...CATCH blocks. These features are not found in standard SQL.

Key T-SQL Features

1. Stored Procedures: T-SQL supports server-side scripts, known as stored procedures, for better security, performance, and encapsulation.

2. User Defined Functions (UDFs): These custom, reusable functions can help in tasks not directly supported by built-in SQL functions.

3. Common Table Expressions (CTEs): With the WITH clause, T-SQL offers an efficient way to define temporary result sets.

4. Triggers: T-SQL can be used to define triggers that automatically execute in response to certain database events.

5. Table Variables: These are variable collections, especially useful for temporary data storage during complex queries.

6. Transaction Control: T-SQL allows finer-grained control over transactions with commands like BEGIN TRAN, ROLLBACK, and COMMIT.

Code Example: TRY-CATCH Block in T-SQL

Here is the T-SQL code:

BEGIN TRY
  -- Generate a divide by zero error intentionally
  DECLARE @num1 INT = 10, @num2 INT = 0;
  SELECT @num1 / @num2;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
  -- Provides details of the error
  PRINT 'Error Number: ' + CAST(ERROR_NUMBER() AS VARCHAR);
  PRINT 'Error Severity: ' + CAST(ERROR_SEVERITY() AS VARCHAR);
  PRINT 'Error State: ' + CAST(ERROR_STATE() AS VARCHAR);
  PRINT 'Error Line: ' + CAST(ERROR_LINE() AS VARCHAR);
  PRINT 'Error Message: ' + ERROR_MESSAGE();
END CATCH;

2. Explain the use of the SELECT statement in T-SQL.

SELECT is the fundamental statement in SQL for retrieving data from databases.

Key Components

• SELECT: Keyword to indicate data retrieval.
• DISTINCT: Optional keyword to remove duplicate records.
• FROM: Keyword to specify data source (table or view).
• WHERE: Optional keyword for setting conditions.
• GROUP BY: Optional keyword for grouping data.
• HAVING: Optional keyword for filtering grouped data.
• ORDER BY: Optional keyword for sorting data.
• TOP (or OFFSET-FETCH): Optional keyword(s) to limit the number of rows returned.

SELECT Query Structure

Here is the structure of the SELECT statement:

Sample Query

Here is the T-SQL code:

SELECT 
    EmployeeID, 
    FirstName, 
    LastName
FROM 
    Employees
WHERE 
    Department = 'IT'
ORDER BY 
    HireDate DESC;

Commonly Used Components in SELECT Statements

WHERE

• Purpose: Filters records based on one or more conditions.
• Examples:
  • WHERE Age > 30: Selects employees older than 30.
  • WHERE JoinDate >= '2021-01-01': Selects employees who joined after January 1, 2021.

GROUP BY and HAVING

• Purpose: Groups records based on the specified column(s). HAVING acts as a filter after grouping.
• Examples:
  • GROUP BY Department: Groups employees based on their departments.
  • GROUP BY Department HAVING COUNT(*) > 10: Groups departments with more than 10 employees.

ORDER BY

• Purpose: Sorts records based on the specified column(s).
• Examples:
  • ORDER BY Salary DESC: Sorts employees in descending order of salary.
  • ORDER BY HireDate ASC, Salary DESC: Sorts employees ascending by hiring date and descending by salary.

DISTINCT

• Purpose: Selects unique records.
• Example:
  • SELECT DISTINCT Department FROM Employees: Retrieves distinct department names where employees work.

TOP, OFFSET, and FETCH

• Purpose: Limits the number of rows returned. Commonly used for pagination.
• Examples:
  • SELECT TOP 5 * FROM Orders: Retrieves the first 5 orders.
  • SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY OrderDate OFFSET 10 ROWS FETCH NEXT 5 ROWS ONLY: Retrieves 5 orders starting from the 11th (ordered by date).

3. What are the basic components of a T-SQL query?

A T-SQL Query consists of the following components:

1. SELECT Statement: Selects columns or computed values.

   SELECT Name, Age FROM Users

2. FROM Clause: Specifies the data source.

   FROM Users

3. WHERE Clause: Filters rows based on a condition.

   WHERE Age > 18

4. GROUP BY Clause: Groups rows based on common values.

   GROUP BY Country

5. HAVING Clause: Applies a filter on grouped data.

   HAVING SUM(Sales) > 10000

6. ORDER BY Clause: Sorts the result set.

   ORDER BY Age DESC

7. Set Operators: Enables combining results of two or more SELECT statements. The most common set operators are UNION, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT.

   Example:

   SELECT Name FROM Students
   UNION
   SELECT Name FROM Teachers

8. JOINs: Constructs a relationship between tables, combining data points. Common joins are INNER JOIN, LEFT (OUTER) JOIN, and RIGHT (OUTER) JOIN. Example:

   SELECT Orders.OrderID, Customers.CustomerName
   FROM Orders
   INNER JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.CustomerID

9. Subqueries: A query nested within another query. Example:

   SELECT Name  
   FROM Users  
   WHERE ID IN  
   (SELECT UserID  
   FROM UserRoles  
   WHERE RoleID = 1)  

10. Common Table Expressions (CTE): A temporary result set that can be referenced multiple times in a query. Example:

    WITH cteProducts AS (
        SELECT ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice
        FROM Products
        WHERE CategoryID = (SELECT CategoryID FROM Categories WHERE CategoryName = 'Beverages')
    )
    SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice
    FROM cteProducts
    WHERE UnitPrice > 20

11. Window Functions: Perform calculations across a set of table rows. Example:

    SELECT orderNumber, orderDate,  
       ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY orderDate) AS 'RowNumber'  
       FROM orders

12. Aggregation Functions: Functions that operate on a set of input values and return a single value. Common functions include SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, and MAX. Example:

    SELECT Country, COUNT(*) AS 'UserCount'
    FROM Users
    GROUP BY Country

13. Pivoting: Transforms data from rows to columns. Common functions used are PIVOT and UNPIVOT.

14. Unions: Combines the results of two or more SELECT statements into one result.

15. CASE Statement: Offers logical evaluations and assigns values based on conditions. Example:

    SELECT 
        ProductName,
        UnitPrice,
        CASE
            WHEN UnitPrice < 10 THEN 'Inexpensive'
            WHEN UnitPrice >= 10 AND UnitPrice < 50 THEN 'Moderate'
            ELSE 'Expensive'
        END AS 'PriceCategory'
    FROM Products

4. How do you write a T-SQL query to filter data using the WHERE clause?

Transact-SQL (T-SQL) offers the WHERE clause for filtering data from tables prior to displaying or manipulating them.

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2,...
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

Here, condition specifies the filtration criterion, such as age > 25 or name = 'John'.

If multiple conditions are required, use logical AND or OR operators and parentheses for clear precedence.

Examples

Basic Usage

1. Get names of students older than 25:

   SELECT name
   FROM Students
   WHERE age > 25;

2. Retrieve titles of all IT books:

   SELECT title
   FROM Books
   WHERE category = 'IT';

Logical Operators

1. Find students older than 25 who have not completed their degrees:

   SELECT name
   FROM Students
   WHERE age > 25 AND degreeCompletionYear IS NULL;

2. Obtain all data of products either in 'Electronics' or 'Mobile' category:

   SELECT *
   FROM Products
   WHERE category = 'Electronics' OR category = 'Mobile';

Using IN Operator

1. Retrieve records of students from 'History' and 'Biology' courses:

   SELECT *
   FROM Students
   WHERE course IN ('History', 'Biology');

Applying BETWEEN Operator

1. Retrieve books published between the year 2010 and 2020:

   SELECT *
   FROM Books
   WHERE publishYear BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020;

Using LIKE for Pattern Matching

1. Find customers with phone numbers starting with area code '123':

   SELECT *
   FROM Customers
   WHERE phone LIKE '123%';

2. Locate users whose email addresses end with '.com':

   SELECT *
   FROM Users
   WHERE email LIKE '%.com';

Negating Conditions with the NOT Keyword

1. Get details of books not published by 'Penguin':

   SELECT *
   FROM Books
   WHERE publisher NOT LIKE 'Penguin%';

Filtering Null Values

1. Retrieve all students who have not yet determined their completion year:

   SELECT *
   FROM Students
   WHERE degreeCompletionYear IS NULL;

2. Obtain names of all employees without assigned managers:

   SELECT name
   FROM Employees
   WHERE managerID IS NULL;

Using Complex Conditions with Parentheses

1. Display books that are either in the 'Fiction' category or published after 2015:

   SELECT *
   FROM Books
   WHERE category = 'Fiction' OR publishYear > 2015;

5. Describe how to sort data using the ORDER BY clause in T-SQL.

Order By in T-SQL arranges query results according to specified criteria, such as unique identifiers or columns.

Basic Order By Operations

• Sort by ID:

  SELECT * FROM Employees ORDER BY EmployeeID;

• Sort by multiple criteria:

  SELECT * FROM Users ORDER BY LastName, FirstName, BirthDate;

• Order By Position Descriptor (Ordinal Number):

  SELECT TOP 5 WITH TIES * FROM Users ORDER BY 5;

Directional Sorting

• Ascending (default):

  SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY OrderID ASC;
  -- or shorthand:
  SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY OrderID;

• Descending:

  SELECT * FROM Products ORDER BY Price DESC;

NULL Placement

• First: Nulls first, then non-nulls.

  SELECT * FROM Students ORDER BY GPA DESC NULLS FIRST;

• Last: Nulls last, after non-nulls.

  SELECT * FROM Products ORDER BY ExpiryDate ASC NULLS LAST;

Ordering on Expressions

• Calculate criteria for sorting:

  SELECT Price, Discount, (Price - Discount)
  AS SalePrice FROM Products ORDER BY (Price - Discount);

Advanced Techniques

• Specific Character Set Order:

  SELECT * FROM Players ORDER BY DisplayName
  COLLATE Latin1_General_BIN;

• Excluding Sort Copies:

  SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Addresses ORDER BY City;

6. What are JOINs in T-SQL and can you explain the different types?

Joins in T-SQL are critical for combining data from multiple tables. The different types of joins offer flexibility in data retrieval.

Common Join Types

1. Inner Join: Retrieves records that have matching values in both tables.

2. Left (Outer) Join: Retrieves all records from the left table, and the matched records from the right table. If no match is found, NULL is returned from the right side.

3. Right (Outer) Join: Similar to the Left Join but retrieves all records from the right table and matched records from the left table. Unmatched records from the left table return NULL.

4. Full (Outer) Join: Retrieves all records when there is a match in either the left or right table. If there is no match, NULL is returned for the opposite side.

5. Cross Join: Produces the Cartesian product of two tables, i.e., each row from the first table combined with each row from the second table. This join type doesn't require any explicit join conditions.

6. Self Join: This is when a table is joined to itself. It's useful when a table has a 'parent' and 'child' relationship, such as an employee's hierarchical structure.

7. Anti Join: This type of join is similar to a LEFT JOIN, but it returns only the rows where there is no match between the tables.

8. Semi Join: It's a special type of join that can be used with EXISTS and IN. This type of join is usually optimized by the query processor to improve performance.

9. Equi Join: This is similar to the Inner Join and joins tables based on a specific column that has equivalent values in both tables.

10. Non-Equi Join: Differs from the Equi Join because the join condition doesn't use the equality operator.

SQL Queries

Here are some example SQL queries to help understand the different join types:

Inner Join

SELECT Orders.OrderID, Customers.CustomerName
FROM Orders
INNER JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.CustomerID;

Outer Joins

• Left Join

SELECT Employees.LastName, Employees.DepartmentID, Departments.DepartmentName
FROM Employees
LEFT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DepartmentID = Departments.DepartmentID;

• Right Join

SELECT Orders.OrderID, Customers.CustomerName
FROM Orders
RIGHT JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.CustomerID;

• Full Join

SELECT A.Column1, B.Column 2
FROM TableA A
FULL JOIN TableB B ON A.Column1 = B.Column2;

• Anti Join

SELECT Customers.CustomerName
FROM Customers
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM Orders WHERE Customers.CustomerID = Orders.CustomerID);

• Semi Join

SELECT LastName, FirstName, Title
FROM Employees
WHERE EmployeeID IN (SELECT ManagerID FROM Employees);

7. How do you implement paging in T-SQL queries?

In SQL Server, paging results involves using the ORDER BY and OFFSET-FETCH clauses. OFFSET specifies the number of rows to skip, and FETCH limits the number of rows to return.

Query Syntax

SELECT 
    columns 
FROM 
    table_name
ORDER BY 
    ordering_column
    [ASC | DESC] -- Optional
OFFSET 
    n ROWS
FETCH NEXT 
    m ROWS ONLY;

• n: The number of initial rows to skip.
• m: The number of subsequent rows to return.

Code Example: Simple Paging

The below query will return rows 6 to 10 out of 15 items.

SELECT 
    *
FROM 
    user_profiles
ORDER BY 
    sign_up_date
OFFSET 
    5 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 
    5 ROWS ONLY;

Using Variable and OFFSET

In scenarios needing dynamic paging, OFFSET...FETCH and ORDER BY must also be dynamic. Common Table Expressions (CTE), together with ROW_NUMBER(), facilitate dynamic sorting and limiting.

Code Example: Dynamic Paging

The following code sets up dynamic paging to fetch the second page with 10 rows per page.

DECLARE @PageSize INT = 10;
DECLARE @PageNumber INT = 2;

WITH user_cte AS 
(
    SELECT
        *,
        RowNum = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY sign_up_date)
    FROM 
        user_profiles
)
SELECT 
    *
FROM 
    user_cte
WHERE 
    RowNum > (@PageNumber - 1) * @PageSize 
    AND RowNum <= @PageNumber * @PageSize;

In this example, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY sign_up_date) assigns a row number based on the defined order, and the CTE user_cte helps filter rows within dynamic boundaries.

8. What is the difference between UNION and UNION ALL?

Both UNION and UNION ALL are used to combine the results of two or more SELECT statements, albeit with key distinctions.

Core Principle

• UNION: Performs a set-union, which eliminates any duplicate rows across the SELECT statements.
• UNION ALL: ALL retrieves all rows from each SELECT statement, including duplicates, and combines them into the result set.

Pros and Cons

• UNION requires extra processing to identify and remove duplicates, making it slightly slower. However, it's often more suitable for data consolidation tasks.

• UNION ALL is faster since it doesn't have to perform any duplicate checks. Use it when you want to preserve all records, even those that might be duplicates.

Query Examples

Consider the following tables:

CREATE TABLE Employees (
    ID INT,
    Name NVARCHAR(100)
);


CREATE TABLE Customers (
    ID INT,
    Name NVARCHAR(100)
);

INSERT INTO Employees (ID, Name) VALUES (1, 'John'), (2, 'Mary'), (3, 'John');
INSERT INTO Customers (ID, Name) VALUES (4, 'Peter'), (1, 'John');

Union All

• Syntax:

SELECT * FROM Employees
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM Customers;

• Result:

ID	Name
1	John
2	Mary
3	John
4	Peter
1	John

Union

• Syntax:

SELECT * FROM Employees
UNION
SELECT * FROM Customers;

• Result:

ID	Name
1	John
2	Mary
4	Peter

9. How are aliases used in T-SQL queries?

Aliases in T-SQL are temporary labels for tables, views, or columns. They streamline queries and improve readability. They are applied using the AS keyword $optionally$ and can be declared for tables/views $table aliases$ and columns $column aliases$.

Table & View Aliases

With table aliases, you simplify syntax, especially for self-joins and subqueries. Use them when dealing with complex and large datasets to keep queries clear and compact.

Column Aliases

Column aliases come in handy for customizing column headings in result sets or for using intermediate calculations. Here is the SELECT query for both cases.

Column Aliases

SELECT OrderID AS OrderNumber,
       Quantity * UnitPrice AS TotalCost
  FROM OrderDetails;

Table Aliases

SELECT c.CustomerID, o.OrderID
  FROM Customers AS c
       JOIN Orders AS o ON c.CustomerID = o.CustomerID;

Code Example

Here is an example of a more complex query that uses table and column aliases for clarity:

SQL Query

SELECT e1.LastName AS ManagerLastName, 
       e1.FirstName AS ManagerFirstName, 
       e2.LastName AS EmployeeLastName, 
       e2.FirstName AS EmployeeFirstName
  FROM Employees e1
       JOIN Employees e2 ON e1.EmployeeID = e2.ReportsTo;

10. Can you explain the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses in T-SQL?

GROUP BY and HAVING work in tandem to filter data after grouping has taken place, as well as on aggregated data.

Key Differences

• Grouping: GROUP BY arranges data into groups based on common column values.
• Filtering: HAVING filters grouped data based on specific conditions, much like WHERE does for ungrouped data.
• Aggregation: Since HAVING operates on grouped and aggregated data, it's often used in conjunction with aggregate functions like COUNT, SUM, etc.

Common Scenarios

• Aggregate Filtering: Tasks that require a group-level condition based on aggregated values. For example, to identify SUM(Sales) values greater than 100.

• Post-Aggregation Filtering: Restrictions on grouped data that can only be determined after applying aggregate functions.

Code Example: Using GROUP BY and HAVING

Here is the T-SQL code:

SELECT
    OrderDate,
    COUNT(*) AS OrderCount,
    SUM(OrderTotal) AS TotalSales
FROM
    Orders
GROUP BY
    OrderDate
HAVING
    COUNT(*) > 1
ORDER BY
    TotalSales DESC;

In this example, we're trying to retrieve all OrderDates with more than one order and their corresponding TotalSales. As a reminder, HAVING limits results based on group-level criteria, which is why the COUNT(*) of orders is used here.

11. What are the T-SQL commands for inserting, updating, and deleting data?

Let's look at the essential T-SQL commands for data insertion, updating, and deletion.

T-SQL Data Modification Commands

• INSERT: Adds new rows to a table.
• UPDATE: Edits existing rows in a table based on specified conditions.
• DELETE: Removes rows from a table based on certain conditions.

Features

• Integrity Constraints: Such as Primary Key, Foreign Key, and Unique Key are used for data validation and maintenance.
• Transaction Management: With BEGIN TRANSACTION, COMMIT, and ROLLBACK, T-SQL helps ensure the ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties are met.
• Logging and Data Recovery: Changes are logged, allowing for data recovery in case of accidents.

Code Example: INSERT

Use INSERT INTO to add data to a table. If you've defined an auto-incrementing primary key, you don't need to specify its value.

For tables without identity columns:

INSERT INTO TableName (Column1, Column2, ...)
VALUES (Value1, Value2, ...);

For tables with identity columns:

SET IDENTITY_INSERT TableName ON; -- Turn identity insert on
INSERT INTO TableName (ID, Column1, Column2, ...)
VALUES (NewID, Value1, Value2, ...);
SET IDENTITY_INSERT TableName OFF; -- Turn identity insert off

Code Example: UPDATE

The UPDATE statement allows you to modify existing rows that match specific criteria.

UPDATE TableName
SET Column1 = NewValue1, Column2 = NewValue2, ...
WHERE Condition;

For instance:

UPDATE Employees
SET Salary = 50000
WHERE Department = 'Marketing';

Code Example: DELETE

Use DELETE to remove rows from a table based on specified conditions.

For instance, to delete all employees who joined before 2015:

DELETE FROM Employees
WHERE JoinDate < '2015-01-01';

12. How do you perform a conditional update in T-SQL?

Conditional updates in T-SQL leverage the UPDATE statement and WHERE clause to modify existing data under specific conditions.

Method: Using WHERE Clause for Conditional Updates

The WHERE clause restricts updates based on specified conditions.

Here is the SQL Query:

UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2, ...
WHERE condition;

Example: Updating Employee Salaries

Let's assume the task is to increase salaries by 10% for employees older than 30:

The corresponding SQL query is:

UPDATE Employees
SET Salary = Salary * 1.1  -- increasing salary by 10%
WHERE Age > 30;

13. What is the purpose of the COALESCE function?

The COALESCE function is a versatile SQL tool that serves several key functions, all tailored around the concept of handling NULL values in a query.

Fundamental Role

COALESCE allows you to select values from a set of arguments in the order they are specified, until a non-NULL value is encountered. This makes it particularly useful in scenarios such as data transformation, default value selection, and in filter criteria.

Common Use-Cases

• Default Value Specification: If a column can have a null value and you want to display a non-null value in result set, you can provide a default via COALESCE.

  SELECT COALESCE(NullableField, 'Default') AS FieldWithDefault
  FROM YourTable;

• Filtering: Using COALESCE in your WHERE clause can help in a variety of scenarios, like when dealing with nullable parameters.

  SELECT *
  FROM YourTable
  WHERE Column1 = COALESCE(@Input1, Column1) 
    AND Column2 = COALESCE(@Input2, Column2);   

• Data Transformation: You can use COALESCE to map NULL values to non-null values during result set retrieval.

  SELECT COALESCE(SalesRep, 'No Sales Rep Assigned') AS SalesRepDisplay
  FROM Sales;

Alternative Approaches

While COALESCE is the most direct way to handle NULLs and is highly portable across SQL implementations, there are other methods that can achieve the same results.

• ISNULL: A SQL Server-specific function that serves the same purpose as COALESCE, but is limited to only handling two parameters.
• NVL: Common in Oracle SQL, this function serves the same role as COALESCE but is more limited in terms of syntax and features.

14. Explain how to convert data types in T-SQL.

Data type conversion in T-SQL can take place explicitly or implicitly.

Implicit Conversion

SQL Server performs implicit data type conversions when it can reasonably infer the target data type. For instance, in the expression 3 + 4.5, the integer 3 gets converted to a numeric type to allow for the addition.

Special Cases of Implicit Conversion

• Character Types to Numeric Values: Conversions from character types to numeric ones can be implicitly handled in specific scenarios. For example, a query like SELECT '10' + 5 treats the character '10' as a numeric 10.

• Date and Time Types: Implicit conversions work among different date and time types, too. If you add an int to a datetime type, SQL Server takes the int as the number of days to add to the date.

• String to Date and Time: T-SQL can convert string literals representating dates and times to their respective data types. For instance, '10 JAN 2018' or '2018-01-10' will be converted to a datetime type.

Explicit Data Type Conversion

You can assert control over data type conversions with explicit casting and conversion functions.

CAST and CONVERT Functions

• CAST: Universally supported, its syntax is CAST(expression AS data_type).
• CONVERT: Offers additional formatting options for date and time data, text, and is RDBMS-specific. Its syntax is CONVERT(data_type, expression, style). The style parameter, where applicable, permits customization of the conversion result.

Rounding and Truncating Numerical Values

• ROUND: This function rounds a numeric value to a specified digit. For example, ROUND(123.4567, 2) results in 123.46.
• FLOOR: Rounds up to the nearest integer less than or equal to the numeric expression. For instance, FLOOR(123.4) becomes 123.

Working with Strings

• LEFT: Extracts a specific number of characters from the beginning of a string.
• UCASE/LCASE: Transforms all characters to upper or lower case.

Binomial Data Types in SQL Server for Number Handling

• TINYINT: Represents an 8-bit unsigned whole number from 0 to 255.
• SMALLINT: Typically an 16-bit integer from -32,768 to 32,767.
• BIGINT: Represents an 8-byte integer from -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807.

15. How do you handle NULL values in T-SQL?

In T-SQL, NULL represents the absence of a value, and it brings certain considerations for data management and query execution.

Dealing with NULLs

IS NULL / IS NOT NULL

Use the IS NULL and IS NOT NULL predicates to evaluate NULL values:

SELECT * FROM users WHERE phone IS NULL;

COALESCE

To substitute NULLs with a defined value, use COALESCE:

SELECT COALESCE(salary, 0) AS Salary FROM employees;

This retrieves 0 if salary is NULL. You can chain COALESCE for multiple replacements:

COALESCE(salary, bonus, 0)

NULLIF

NULLIF compares two values and returns NULL if they are equal, otherwise the first value:

SELECT NULLIF(column1, column2) FROM table;

Common Functions Handling NULLs

• Use ISNULL to replace NULL with a defined value.
• NVL and NVL2 are Oracle equivalents of ISNULL and COALESCE respectively.

Indexing and Performance Implications

• Queries including NULL-dependent conditions can be more resource-intensive, potentially resulting in a full scan of the dataset.

• Standard indexes include NULL values, but you can employ Filtered Indexes to exclude or include them, achieving performance enhancements in specific scenarios.

• For efficient JOINs, consider nullable columns that often contain non-NULL values but are, technically, not mandatory, by employing UNION ALL.

Using DISTINCT

DISTINCT can yield unexpected results with NULLs. Duplicates or NULLs might not be removed as anticipated. To address this, consider using GROUP BY or additional logic in your queries.

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