🔍 SQL Fundamentals Part-2: Filtering

After learning SELECT basics, the next step is learning how to filter data.

👉 In real-world data analysis, you rarely need full data — you filter specific rows.

Filtering = extracting only relevant data from a table.

✅ What is Filtering in SQL?
Filtering is done using the WHERE clause.

It allows you to:
✔ Get specific records
✔ Apply conditions
✔ Clean data
✔ Extract business insights

🔹 1. Comparison Operators
Used to compare values.
Operator Meaning
• = Equal
• > Greater than
• < Less than
• >= Greater than or equal
• <= Less than or equal
• != or <> Not equal

✅ Examples

• Equal to
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE city = 'Pune';

• Greater than
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary > 50000;

• Not equal
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE department != 'HR';

💡 Most commonly used in dashboards reporting.

🔹 2. Logical Operators (AND, OR, NOT)

Used to combine multiple conditions.

✅ AND — Both conditions must be true

SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary > 50000 AND city = 'Mumbai';

👉 Returns employees with: salary > 50000 AND located in Mumbai

✅ OR — Any condition can be true

SELECT * FROM employees WHERE city = 'Delhi' OR city = 'Pune';

👉 Returns employees from either city.

✅ NOT — Reverse condition

SELECT * FROM employees WHERE NOT department = 'Sales';

👉 Excludes Sales department.

🔹 3. BETWEEN (Range Filtering)

Used to filter values within a range.

Syntax
SELECT * FROM table WHERE column BETWEEN value1 AND value2;

✅ Example
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary BETWEEN 30000 AND 70000;

👉 Includes boundary values.

🔹 4. IN Operator (Multiple Values Shortcut)

Better alternative to multiple OR conditions.

❌ Without IN
WHERE city = 'Pune' OR city = 'Delhi' OR city = 'Mumbai'

✅ With IN
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE city IN ('Pune','Delhi','Mumbai');

👉 Cleaner and faster.

🔹 5. LIKE — Pattern Matching
Used for searching text patterns.

⭐ Wildcards
Symbol Meaning
• % Any number of characters
• _ Single character

✅ Starts with "A"
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE name LIKE 'A%';

✅ Ends with "n"
WHERE name LIKE '%n';

✅ Contains "an"
WHERE name LIKE '%an%';

Used heavily in search features.

🔹 6. NULL Handling (Very Important ⭐)

NULL means:
👉 Missing / unknown value
👉 Not zero
👉 Not empty

❌ Wrong
WHERE salary = NULL

✅ Correct
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary IS NULL;

Check non-null values
WHERE salary IS NOT NULL;

💡 Very common interview question.

⭐ Order of Filtering Execution
SQL processes filtering after reading table:

FROM → WHERE → SELECT → ORDER BY → LIMIT

🧠 Real-World Data Analyst Examples

Q. Find customers from Pune
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE city = 'Pune';

Q. Find high-paying jobs in IT department
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary > 80000 AND department = 'IT';

Q. Find names starting with "R"
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE name LIKE 'R%';

Used daily in business analytics.

🚀 Mini Practice Tasks
✅ Q1
Find employees whose salary is greater than 60000.
✅ Q2
Find customers from Pune or Mumbai.
✅ Q3
Find products priced between 100 and 500.
✅ Q4
Find employees whose name starts with "S".
✅ Q5
Find records where email is missing (NULL).

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