SQLite Distinct Keyword

The DISTINCT keyword in SQLite is used with the SELECT statement to eliminate all duplicate records and retrieve only unique ones.

There might be a scenario where multiple duplicate records exist in a table. When extracting such records, the DISTINCT keyword becomes particularly meaningful, as it retrieves unique records only, rather than duplicates.

Syntax

The basic syntax for the DISTINCT keyword to eliminate duplicate records is as follows:

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2,.....columnN 
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]

Example

Assume the COMPANY table has the following records:

ID          NAME        AGE         ADDRESS     SALARY
----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
1           Paul        32          California  20000.0
2           Allen       25          Texas       15000.0
3           Teddy       23          Norway      20000.0
4           Mark        25          Rich-Mond   65000.0
5           David       27          Texas       85000.0
6           Kim         22          South-Hall  45000.0
7           James       24          Houston     10000.0
8           Paul        24          Houston     20000.0
9           James       44          Norway      5000.0
10          James       45          Texas       5000.0

First, let's look at the following SELECT query, which will return duplicate salary records:

sqlite> SELECT name FROM COMPANY;

This will produce the following result:

NAME
----------
Paul
Allen
Teddy
Mark
David
Kim
James
Paul
James
James

Now, let's use the DISTINCT keyword in the above SELECT query:

sqlite> SELECT DISTINCT name FROM COMPANY;

This will produce the following result, with no duplicate entries:

NAME
----------
Paul
Allen
Teddy
Mark
David
Kim
James