How do I concatenate strings in SQL?

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One of the tasks you will frequently come across when dealing with databases is manipulating and combining different data types. In SQL, combining string values is referred to as “Concatenation”. Concatenation is a process of joining two or more strings into one. In this blog post, we will explore different ways of string concatenation in SQL.

Using “||” operator

One way to concatenate strings in SQL is to use the “||” operator. This is an easy method to combine two or more strings.

This SQL statement will return the string ‘SQL is Easy’

Using CONCAT function

The CONCAT function, which is available in MySQL and SQL Server 2012 onward, is another method to concatenate two or more strings. It returns a combined string that is the result of concatenation of two or more string values.

This SQL statement will return the string ‘SQL is Great’

Using + operator

In SQL Server, you can also concatenate strings using the ‘+’ operator. This is similar to how you would concatenate strings in programming languages like Java or C#.

This SQL statement will return the string ‘Programming is fun’

Concatenating Nulls

One thing to be aware of with string concatenation in SQL is when one or more of the strings is NULL. In SQL, concatenating a NULL with a string results in a NULL. For example:

This SQL statement will return a NULL, because it attempts to concatenate a NULL with a string.

Conclusion

Now you know how to concatenate strings in SQL. You’ve learned multiple methods – the “||” operator, the CONCAT function, and the ‘+’ operator. Remember, when using NULLs to avoid unexpected results. Happy Coding!