Say “Hello” to the Table

Welcome to SQL. In this first lesson, you’ll write a simple query to interact with a table and retrieve data—no setup or background required. Let’s get started with your first real query.

Goal

You’ll aim to:

• Run your first SQL query.

• View a whole table using SELECT *.

• Understand the idea of a table as structured data.

Meet the table

Let’s start with a table called people that stores basic info about different individuals, like their name, age, and city. Here’s what it looks like:

The people table

Say hello with SELECT *

You’re asking SQL to show everything from the people table: every column, every row.

📝 Did you know?
This query works just fine without the semicolon at the end—it’s optional in many environments when running a single statement. And it also works even if you write it in lowercase. That’s because SQL is case-insensitive, so select, SELECT, or even SeLeCt all mean the same thing.

Quick bits

• SELECT: Ask for columns

• *: Wildcard for all columns

• FROM: The table you're asking

Mini challenge

Try this with a second sample table called pets:

If you’re stuck, click the “Show Solution” button.

Th pets table

The pets table stores information about different animals, like their name, type, and age.

View all entries in the pets table.

What’s next?

Now that you have viewed the entire table, let's focus on how to select specific columns of interest. Next, learn how to select only the columns that are relevant to your query.