EasySQL challenge #1SELECTLIMIT

Select All Columns from a Table with LIMIT

Return every column of the users table, capped at 20 rows, using SELECT * and LIMIT.

The challenge runs on the SQLabHub practice database (SQLite) and uses the users table. You can solve it in the browser, with nothing to install.

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The task

Retrieve all columns from the users table, limited to 20 rows.

A correct answer returns 20 rows with 10 columns: id, first_name, last_name, email, phone, city, country, created_at, status, is_premium.

Tables used in this challenge

users 150 rows

id INTEGER (PK) · first_name TEXT · last_name TEXT · email TEXT · phone TEXT · city TEXT · country TEXT · created_at TEXT · status TEXT · is_premium INTEGER

First 3 rows of the users table
idfirst_namelast_nameemailphonecitycountrycreated_atstatusis_premium
1JenniferTorresjennifer.torres57@icloud.com+1-263-376-2371HoustonCanada2024-04-13active0
2DonnaAdamsdonna.adams52@gmail.com+1-753-780-6670Fort WorthCanada2020-09-15inactive0
3KennethYoungkenneth.young94@proton.me+1-440-743-9503AustinUSA2023-09-05active0

The first rows of each table are shown. See how all the tables relate on the database schema page.

Expected output

Expected output of the challenge
idfirst_namelast_nameemailphonecitycountrycreated_atstatusis_premium
1JenniferTorresjennifer.torres57@icloud.com+1-263-376-2371HoustonCanada2024-04-13active0
2DonnaAdamsdonna.adams52@gmail.com+1-753-780-6670Fort WorthCanada2020-09-15inactive0
3KennethYoungkenneth.young94@proton.me+1-440-743-9503AustinUSA2023-09-05active0
4MichaelCartermichael.carter46@yahoo.com+1-967-275-1964San AntonioFrance2024-12-19active1
5RobertCampbellrobert.campbell92@icloud.com+1-549-212-8814New YorkUSA2019-09-23active1

First 5 of 20 rows. This is the output of the model solution on the practice database. The task does not fix a sort order, so your rows may come back in a different order.

What you practise

  • Returning every column of a table with SELECT *
  • Returning only the first rows with LIMIT

Hint and approach

Try the challenge first. Open these only when you need them.

Show the hint

Use SELECT * FROM table_name LIMIT n;

Show the step-by-step approach

How the model solution is built, in the order the database evaluates it:

  1. Read from the users table.
  2. Return every column with SELECT *.
  3. Keep only the first 20 rows with LIMIT.

Model solution

Checking your session…

What to watch for

Without an ORDER BY, LIMIT returns whichever 20 rows the database reads first. On this table that is id order, but SQL does not promise it.

  • LIMIT. LIMIT without ORDER BY returns an arbitrary set of rows. LIMIT is also dialect-specific: SQL Server uses TOP and Oracle uses FETCH FIRST.
  • SELECT *. SELECT * is fine for exploring, but its output changes whenever a column is added to the table. Queries that feed a report should name their columns.
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Same technique, other tables

More practice on this pattern with different columns:

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