SQL Distinct

TheSQLDistinct clause in the SQL Language allows you to remove any repeated data in a column.

Let-s take a look at the following table/query:

select * from customer;

Here are the results from that query:

![SNAGHTML1230953c](../../assets/blog/2012/06/SNAGHTML1230953c_thumb.png)

We have 6 rows and 4 columns in this table, but I only want to look at the customer_company column.

Here is the query to bring back just that column:

select customer_company from customer;

With the following results:

![SNAGHTML12327f0d](../../assets/blog/2012/06/SNAGHTML12327f0d_thumb.png)

Now, I want to remove the repeated companies. So if you look at -Dell- in the picture above, you will see that it is in there twice.

That is where the -Distinct- clause comes in. Take a look at what happens when I put distinct into the following query:

select distinct customer_company from customer;

I get the following results:

Notice how we only have 5 rows. That is because the extra/repeated Dell row has been removed.

So that is what the distinct clause does, it removes the repeated data elements in a column.

Please post any questions or comments below.