How to Get Data from Multiple Tables in SQL

If you’re working with a database, you will need to know how to get data from multiple tables in SQL. This is a common task for database developers and analysts, as it allows them to combine data from different sources and perform more complex queries. In this article, we’ll show you how to get data from multiple tables in SQL using a few different techniques.

Using JOIN to Get Data from Multiple Tables in SQL

The most common way to get data from multiple tables in SQL is to use the JOIN clause. This clause allows you to combine rows from two or more tables based on a common field. For example, if you have a customer table and an orders table, you could use the JOIN clause to retrieve all the orders for a particular customer by matching the customer’s id in both tables.

Here’s the basic syntax for using the JOIN clause:

SELECT *
FROM table1
JOIN table2
ON table1.common_field = table2.common_field;

For example, if we have tables named users and customers that share information, we might want to join these tables. This would allow us to see all the users that are in the customers table and vice versa. Generally, you will want to use a foreign key relationship to connect these tables. Let’s say that our customers table has a field called user_id that points to the id field in the users table. We can join the tables like this:

SELECT *
FROM customers
INNER JOIN users ON users.id = customers.user_id

This will give us a result set that includes all the columns from both tables (since we’re using “SELECT *“) and all the records where we find a connection between the tables on the id and user_id fields in their respective tables.

There are several types of JOINs you can use, including INNER JOIN, OUTER JOIN, and CROSS JOIN. The type of JOIN you use will depend on the data you’re working with and the type of query you’re trying to perform. You can learn more about how to use different types of SQL joins in our online beginner SQL course.

Using the UNION Clause to Query Multiple Tables

Another way to get data from multiple tables in SQL is to use the UNION clause. This clause allows you to combine the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result set. The UNION clause removes duplicates, so you’ll only get unique rows in the final result set.

Here’s the basic syntax for using the UNION clause:

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table1
UNION
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table2;

Note that the column names and data types of the SELECT statements must be the same in order for the UNION clause to work. This means that the names must be the same and they must be in the same order.

Let’s say that we have a users table and a customers table. Both of these tables have fields for first_name, last_name, and email_address. We could get a list of all the names and email addresses from both tables with a single query that uses the UNION clause.

We can run this query:

SELECT first_name, last_name, email_address
FROM customers
UNION
SELECT first_name, last_name, email_address
FROM users;

This will give us a single result set that contains all the records with these columns from the customers and users tables. Note that a UNION query will automatically return DISTINCT results. So if a record appears with the same first name, last name, and email address in both tables, you will see that record only once in the results for the query above. You can learn more about how to use the UNION clause in SQL in a separate article.

There are several ways to get data from multiple tables in SQL, and the method you choose will depend on your specific needs and the data you’re working with. The JOIN clause is a powerful tool for combining data from multiple tables. This is the most commonly used method. The UNION technique can also be useful in certain situations. By learning how to use these techniques, you’ll be able to perform more complex queries and extract the data you need from your database.