SQLite Limit Clause

The LIMIT clause is a clause in SQLite that is used to specify the number of records to return in a result set. This clause is often used in conjunction with the ORDER BY clause to return a specific number of records in a desired order.

Syntax

The syntax for the LIMIT clause in SQLite is as follows:

SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
LIMIT number;

where number is an integer value that represents the maximum number of rows to return.

Example

Suppose we have a table called employees with the following data:

id  | name      | age
----|-----------|-------
1   | Alice     | 25
2   | Bob       | 32
3   | Charlie   | 28
4   | David     | 35
5   | Elizabeth | 27

If we want to return only the first two rows, we can use the LIMIT clause as follows:

SELECT *
FROM employees
LIMIT 2;

Output

The output would be the first two rows of the employees table:

id  | name  | age
----|-------|----
1   | Alice | 25
2   | Bob   | 32

Explanation

In the example above, we used the LIMIT clause to specify that we want to return only the first two rows from the employees table. The * notation is used to select all columns from the table.

Use

The LIMIT clause is useful when you want to limit the number of rows returned by a query. This can be useful in situations where you have a large dataset and want to reduce the amount of data returned by a query.

Important Points

• The LIMIT clause should be used with an ORDER BY clause to ensure that the rows returned are in a desired order.
• The LIMIT clause can only be used with queries that return a result set.
• The LIMIT clause can be used with the OFFSET clause to return a subset of rows starting from a specific row number.

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned about the SQLite LIMIT clause and how it can be used to limit the number of rows returned in a result set. We saw an example of selecting the first two rows from a table and returning them in a specific order. The LIMIT clause can be useful for optimizing queries by reducing the amount of data returned, and can be used in conjunction with the ORDER BY and OFFSET clauses to further refine the results.