Databases

SQL provides a great deal of flexibility in terms of how it allows you to insert data into tables. You can specify individual rows of data with the VALUES keyword, copy entire sets of data from existing tables with SELECT queries, as well as define columns in ways that will cause SQL to insert data into them automatically. In this guide, we’ll go over how to employ each of these methods to load tables with data using SQL’s INSERT INTO syntax.

When working with a database, there may be times when you need to change data that’s already been inserted into it; you may need to correct a misspelled entry, or perhaps you have information to add to an incomplete record. SQL provides the UPDATE statement which allows users to change existing data in a table. This guide outlines how you can use SQL’s UPDATE syntax to change data in one or more tables. It will also explain how SQL handles UPDATE operations that conflict with foreign keys.