What’s the basic logic behind the SELECT statement in SQL?

Hello Omar, really nice question.

The logic behind SELECT in SQL is actually pretty simple once you see what problem it solves. A database table is like a giant spreadsheet. Most of the time, you don’t need every single piece of information in that table — you just need certain columns or certain rows.

SELECT is how you tell the database: “Show me only the parts I care about.”

For example, if a table has ten different columns but you only want to see age and country, you can write:

SELECT age, country
FROM Customers;

Now the database gives you just those two columns instead of the whole table. It’s efficient, it’s cleaner, and it makes it easier to work with your data.

So the real logic is:
Ask for the specific data you want instead of taking everything.

If you want to dig deeper into filtering, sorting, or selecting rows, I’m happy to help you explore that next.