How to create a view in MySQL

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses SQL. It is mainly used to query and manage database systems. A view is a virtual table composition of predefined SQL queries that are not stored but only shown to the user. It is created by selecting particular rows from the tables and showing only the required rows in the new table form to avoid confusion. A view can be created by joining one or more than one table.

Views in MySQL have advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a look at both.

Pros of using views in MySQL:

  • Simplified data access
  • Data abstraction
  • Security and access control
  • Performance optimization
  • Data consistency

Cons of using views in MySQL:

  • Performance overhead
  • Limited update functionality
  • Increased maintenance complexity
  • Dependency management
  • Limited portability

Syntax of a view

The following is the syntax for creating a view in a database:

CREATE VIEW viewname AS 
SELECT col1, col2, .... coln 
FROM tablename
WHERE <condition>

Working flow of a view

We can see the working flow of a view in the illustration given below:

Representation of the view
Representation of the view

Code example

Now we can see the view by using the example below:

-- Create a view and assign a name to the table
CREATE VIEW Highest_Paid_Employee AS  
-- Select the rows we need to show in the table by using the view
SELECT ID, Name, Salary, Designation
FROM Employees
-- Apply condition to select the particular data we need
WHERE salary > 60000;
-- Here, we display the table we made by using the view
SELECT * from Highest_Paid_Employee

Code explanation

  • Line 2: We create a VIEW and assign a table name that we can easily use without making the view multiple times.
  • Lines 4–5: We SELECT the attributes from the Employees table, which we need to display.
  • Line 7: We apply the condition using the WHERE clause to make a view table.
  • Line 10: We use the SELECT statement to display the view table.

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