Using MS SQL DISTINCT
If we want to know how many different types of records are in the desired column or columns of the query written in MS Sql, we use the DISTINCT function.
Let's have a table called PRODUCTS as below.
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Chocolate | 5 |
| Water | 5 |
| Pasta | 3 |
| Pen | 10 |
| Chocolate | 7 |
| Tea | 20 |
If we want to see how many different products are in this table. Using the DISTINCT function, we write a query like the one below.
SELECT DISTINCT(Product) FROM PRODUCTS
The result returned to us will be as follows.
| Product |
|---|
| Chocolate |
| Water |
| Pasta |
| Pen |
| Tea |
There are 2 records named Chocolate in the PRODUCTS table. Since we apply the DISTINCT function only to the Product column, it returns only one record, even if the prices are different.