← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 7–8

Describing what a query does in plain English

Read a query one clause at a time: SELECT names which fields are shown, WHERE picks which records, and ORDER BY sets the order the results appear in.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 7–8 — Structured Data and Queries — Module 39, WA Computer Science ATAR Year 11 — Data Management — Module 83

Understanding Describing what a query does in plain English in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 7–8

What it does: The fields listed after SELECT, lastName and yearLevel, are the only columns shown. ORDER BY firstName ASC lists the names in alphabetical order from A to Z. SELECT name = show the name field. WHERE price > 10 = only records with a price over 10. ORDER BY only sets the order of the results. It does not remove any records. DESC means biggest first. Sorting needs ORDER BY. Without it, the query just shows the first names of Blue house students in no set order.

Common mistakes: WHERE picks the records. Text values must be in quotes, so it should be WHERE house = 'Red';. FROM names the table the records come from. It is spelled FROM, not FORM.

Class: _____________________ · Name: _____________________ · Date: _________

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 365–411) and word search (Modules 331–411).

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Learning

Duo

In SELECT firstName, points FROM students, what does the SELECT part tell us?

Which fields are shown: firstName and pointsWhich records are kept: only students named firstName

Matches

Plain English: SELECT name FROM products WHERE price > 10 means 'show all fields of products costing over 10'.

↓

SELECT name shows only the name field, not all fields. WHERE price > 10 picks the records, but the SELECT part limits the fields.

Applying

Meanings

Term

SELECT WHERE ORDER BY

Meaning

Read a query one clause at a time: SELECT names which fields are shown, WHERE picks which records, and ORDER BY sets the order the results appear in.

Practice

SELECT firstName, points

Testing

Gaps

firstName, points

Check Answer

Spots

3FROM students

4WHERE house = Red;

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Quick Questions

1. In SELECT firstName, points FROM students, what does the SELECT part tell us?

A. Which fields are shown: firstName and points ✓

B. Which records are kept: only students named firstName

SELECT names the fields (columns) to show. WHERE is the clause that picks records.

2. Which clause of a query decides which RECORDS (rows) are returned?

A. WHERE ✓

B. SELECT

WHERE filters the records. SELECT only chooses which fields are displayed.

3. SELECT name FROM products WHERE price > 10. Which is the best plain-English description?

A. Show the price of every product named 10

B. Show the name of every product that costs more than 10 ✓

SELECT name = show the name field. WHERE price > 10 = only records with a price over 10.

4. What does ORDER BY points DESC do in a query?

A. Picks only the records that have the highest points

B. Puts the results in order from highest points to lowest ✓

ORDER BY only sets the order of the results. It does not remove any records. DESC means biggest first.

5. SELECT firstName FROM students WHERE house = 'Red' ORDER BY firstName. Which description is correct?

A. Show first names of Red house students, sorted A to Z ✓

B. Show all students from every house, sorted by house

Read clause by clause: SELECT = firstName only, WHERE = Red house only, ORDER BY = A to Z (ascending is the default).

Match the Pairs

SELECT firstName, points FROM students WHERE house = 'Red' ORDER BY points DESC; → Shows the first name and points of students in Red house, with the highest points first.

SELECT name, price FROM products WHERE stock = 0; → Shows the name and price of products that have no stock left.

The SELECT part tells you which fields (columns) appear in the results. → SELECT lastName, yearLevel FROM students;

The ORDER BY part tells you the order the records appear in, such as A to Z. → SELECT firstName FROM students ORDER BY firstName ASC;

Plain English: SELECT name FROM products WHERE price > 10 means 'show all fields of products costing over 10'. → SELECT name shows only the name field, not all fields. WHERE price > 10 picks the records, but the SELECT part limits the fields.

Plain English: SELECT firstName FROM students WHERE house = 'Blue' means 'show Blue house students sorted by name'. → There is no ORDER BY clause, so the query does not sort the results. WHERE only picks the Blue house records.

Key Term

SELECT WHERE ORDER BY

Read a query one clause at a time: SELECT names which fields are shown, WHERE picks which records, and ORDER BY sets the order the results appear in.

Fill in the Blanks

1. SELECT firstName, points FROM students ORDER BY points DESC;

Hint: Type the clause keyword that names which fields are shown.

2. SELECT firstName FROM students WHERE house = 'Red';

Hint: Type the clause keyword that picks which records are returned.

3. SELECT name, price FROM products ORDER BY price DESC;

Hint: Type the two-word clause that sets the order of the results.

4. SELECT firstName, points FROM students WHERE points > 100;

Hint: Type the comparison operator that means more than.

5. SELECT firstName FROM students ORDER BY points DESC;

Hint: Type the keyword that sorts from the highest value to the lowest.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A -- Red house student names

B SELECT firstName, lastName

C FROM students

D WHERE house = Red;

Line D — WHERE picks the records. Text values must be in quotes, so it should be WHERE house = 'Red';

Question 2

A -- Cheapest products first

B SELECT name, price

C FORM products

D ORDER BY price ASC;

Line C — FROM names the table the records come from. It is spelled FROM, not FORM.

Question 3

A SELECT firstName points

B FROM students

C WHERE points > 100

D ORDER BY points DESC;

Line A — SELECT lists the fields to show, and the fields must be separated by commas. It should be SELECT firstName, points

Question 4

A SELECT name, stock

B FROM products;

C WHERE stock = 0;

Line B — The semicolon ends the query too early, so the WHERE line is cut off. Remove it: FROM products

Question 5

A SELECT firstName, house

B FROM students

C WHERE yearLevel = 7

D ORDER firstName ASC;

Line D — ORDER BY sets the order of the results. The keyword is two words, so it should be ORDER BY firstName ASC;

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