SQL Terminology

MSDN Docs Home
TermDefinition
SELECTRetrieves rows from one or more tables.
FROMSpecifies the table(s) to retrieve data from.
WHEREFilters rows based on a condition.
JOINCombines rows from two or more tables based on a related column.
INNER JOINReturns rows when there is a match in both tables.
LEFT JOINReturns all rows from the left table, and matched rows from the right table.
GROUP BYAggregates rows that share a property.
HAVINGFilters groups created by GROUP BY.
ORDER BYSorts the result set.
INSERTAdds new rows to a table.
UPDATEModifies existing rows.
DELETERemoves rows from a table.
PRIMARY KEYUnique identifier for a table row.
FOREIGN KEYEnforces referential integrity between tables.
INDEXImproves the speed of data retrieval.
VIEWVirtual table based on a query.
TRIGGERAutomatic action performed in response to certain events.
TRANSACTIONSequence of operations performed as a single unit of work.
COMMITFinalizes a transaction making changes permanent.
ROLLBACKReverts a transaction to its previous state.
NULLRepresents missing or undefined data.
CASEProvides conditional logic in queries.
UNIONCombines result sets of multiple SELECT statements.
EXISTSTests for the existence of rows in a subquery.