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The SQL Workshop

You're reading from   The SQL Workshop Learn to create, manipulate and secure data and manage relational databases with SQL

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Product type Paperback
Published in Dec 2019
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781838642358
Length 288 pages
Edition 1st Edition
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Concepts
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Authors (3):
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Prashanth Jayaram Prashanth Jayaram
Author Profile Icon Prashanth Jayaram
Prashanth Jayaram
Frank Solomon Frank Solomon
Author Profile Icon Frank Solomon
Frank Solomon
Awni Al Saqqa Awni Al Saqqa
Author Profile Icon Awni Al Saqqa
Awni Al Saqqa
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Toc

Table of Contents (13) Chapters Close

Preface 1. SQL Basics FREE CHAPTER 2. Manipulating Data 3. Normalization 4. The SELECT Statement 5. Shaping Data with the WHERE Clause 6. JOINS 7. Subqueries, Cases, and Views 8. SQL Programming 9. Security 10. Aggregate Functions 11. Advanced SQL Appendix

Primary Key Constraints

A primary key constraint on a column instructs the database engine to keep the entries in a column unique. For example, if we were to create a table with information about all the human beings on Earth, we could use the tongue print of human beings as unique identification. If tongue prints were in a column, it would be the primary key.

It is possible to have a duplicate tongue print; however, it is rare. In such a case, you could create a primary key across multiple columns. Therefore, you could combine the tongue print, fingerprint, and the retinal signature to make a primary key. In such a case, the combination of these values in these columns should be unique across the table. In other words, there may be a duplicate tongue print, a duplicate fingerprint, and a duplicate retinal signature in the table—the database engine will allow that. However, there cannot be a duplicate combination of all three. Alternatively, there can be no two human beings...

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