How to Select nth Highest Record - (MySQL Practicals)
In MySQL, it is possible to select the nth highest record from a table using the ORDER BY and LIMIT clauses. In this tutorial, we'll walk through the syntax and provide an example of selecting the nth highest record in MySQL.
Syntax
The syntax for selecting the nth highest record is as follows:
SELECT column_name FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name DESC LIMIT n-1,1;
In this syntax, column_name is the name of the column you want to order by, table_name is the name of the table you want to select from, and n is the number corresponding to the nth highest record you want to select.
Example
Let's say we have a table called employees with the following data:
| employee_id | name | salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Doe | 50000 |
| 2 | Jane Doe | 60000 |
| 3 | Bob Smith | 40000 |
| 4 | Sarah Lee | 70000 |
| 5 | Tom Jones | 45000 |
If we want to select the second highest salary from this table, we would use the following query:
SELECT salary FROM employees ORDER BY salary DESC LIMIT 1, 1;
This query will return the salary of the second highest paid employee, which is 60000.
Output
When we run the query above, we should get the following output:
| salary |
|---|
| 60000 |
Explanation
In the example above, we first specified the column we wanted to select as salary from the employees table. We then ordered the records by the salary column in descending order using the ORDER BY clause. Finally, we used the LIMIT clause to select the record that corresponds to the second highest salary. Since we want to select the second highest salary, we used the arguments 1 (n-1) and 1 to get the second record.
Use
Selecting the nth highest record can be useful when you want to find the highest paid employee, or the second, third, or nth highest paid employee from a table.
Important Points
- Use the ORDER BY clause to order the records by the column you want to group by.
- Use the LIMIT clause to select the nth record, where n is the number corresponding to the nth highest record you want to select.
- To get the second highest record, use the arguments 1 (n-1) and 1.
Summary
In this tutorial, we discussed how to select the nth highest record from a table in MySQL using the ORDER BY and LIMIT clauses. We covered the syntax, example, output, explanation, use, and important points of selecting the nth highest record. With this knowledge, you can now select the nth highest record from a table in MySQL with ease.