A Level Computer Science OCR Practice Exam

What is the primary purpose of the SQL SELECT clause?

1. To specify the conditions for data retrieval

2. To define which fields to display

3. To identify the tables involved in a query

4. To update existing records

The correct answer is: To define which fields to display

The SQL SELECT clause is primarily used to define which fields to display in the results of a query. When you use the SELECT statement, you determine exactly which columns from the specified table(s) you want to return in the output. This allows users to extract specific data, which can be crucial for analysis, reporting, or further data manipulation. For example, if you have a table called "employees" and you only want to see the "name" and "salary" columns, you would use the SELECT clause to specify those fields, effectively filtering out any unnecessary data. This makes it a vital component for tailoring the output to the needs of the user while querying a database. While other aspects of an SQL query—such as specifying conditions for retrieval or identifying the tables—are important, they serve different functions. The SELECT clause distinctly focuses on selecting the particular columns to return in the results, which is why it is the correct understanding of its primary purpose.