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Multi-column DISTINCT

Use DISTINCT across multiple columns.

DISTINCT COUNT

With COUNT(DISTINCT column) you count unique values. Duplicates are counted once.

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT city) AS sehir_sayisi FROM customers;

This query counts how many different cities there are.

COUNT(DISTINCT city) AS sehir_sayisi is selected from customers.

DISTINCT COUNT — details

COUNT(DISTINCT) counts non-NULL unique values. In MySQL DISTINCT alone is not enough for counting; it pairs with COUNT.

Practice DISTINCT COUNT

Count unique cities in customers aliased as city_count.

Starter code

query.sql
-- count cities
SELECT
FROM customers

Sample solution

query.sql
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT city) AS sehir_sayisi
FROM customers

Expected output

sehir_sayisi
3

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 Multi-column DISTINCT: match the terms

Term Meaning
COUNT count
DISTINCT deduplicate
SUM sum
AVG average

2 Count distinct

Question 
SELECT COUNT(____ city) FROM customers;
Answer 
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT city) FROM customers;

Explanation: DISTINCT is the right answer.

3 What does COUNT(DISTINCT city) count?

  • Total rows
  • The number of distinct cities Correct answer
  • Duplicate rows
  • Empty rows

Explanation: COUNT(DISTINCT) counts unique values.

All lessons in Beginner

1 SELECT basics

  1. What is SELECT?
  2. Selecting all columns
  3. Selecting specific columns
  4. Column aliases with AS
  5. Literal values
  6. Summary - SELECT basics

2 WHERE filtering

  1. What is WHERE?
  2. Comparison operators
  3. AND and OR
  4. IN and BETWEEN
  5. Pattern matching with LIKE
  6. Summary - WHERE filtering

3 Ordering and limit

  1. ORDER BY
  2. ASC and DESC
  3. Multi-column ordering
  4. LIMIT
  5. OFFSET
  6. Summary - Ordering and limit

4 Project: CRUD app

  1. Project design
  2. Reading data
  3. Inserting data
  4. Updating data
  5. Deleting data

5 Data types

  1. Integer types
  2. Decimal types
  3. CHAR and VARCHAR
  4. DATE and TIME
  5. BOOLEAN
  6. Summary - Data types

6 Operators

  1. Arithmetic operators
  2. Comparison operators
  3. Logical operators
  4. IS NULL
  5. String concatenation
  6. Summary - Operators

7 String functions

  1. UPPER and LOWER
  2. LENGTH
  3. SUBSTRING
  4. TRIM
  5. CONCAT
  6. Summary - String functions

8 Project: Shopping cart

  1. Cart design
  2. Listing products
  3. Adding to cart
  4. Calculating total
  5. Removing from cart

9 Number functions

  1. ROUND
  2. CEIL and FLOOR
  3. ABS
  4. POWER and SQRT
  5. MOD
  6. Summary - Number functions

10 Date functions

  1. CURRENT_DATE and NOW
  2. EXTRACT
  3. Date arithmetic
  4. DATEDIFF
  5. Date formatting
  6. Summary - Date functions

11 NULL handling

  1. What is NULL?
  2. IS NULL
  3. COALESCE
  4. NULLIF
  5. Three-valued logic
  6. Summary - NULL handling

12 DISTINCT

  1. What is DISTINCT?
  2. DISTINCT on one column
  3. Multi-column DISTINCT
  4. DISTINCT with aggregates
  5. DISTINCT vs GROUP BY
  6. Summary - DISTINCT

13 INSERT

  1. INSERT basics
  2. Inserting into specific columns
  3. Multiple rows
  4. INSERT with SELECT
  5. DEFAULT values
  6. Summary - INSERT

14 UPDATE

  1. UPDATE basics
  2. Conditional UPDATE
  3. Multi-column UPDATE
  4. Calculated updates
  5. UPDATE pitfalls
  6. Summary - UPDATE

15 DELETE

  1. DELETE basics
  2. Conditional DELETE
  3. DELETE vs TRUNCATE
  4. Emptying a table
  5. Safe deletion
  6. Summary - DELETE

16 CREATE TABLE

  1. CREATE TABLE basics
  2. Column definitions
  3. NOT NULL
  4. DEFAULT
  5. PRIMARY KEY
  6. Summary - CREATE TABLE

17 Constraints

  1. UNIQUE constraint
  2. CHECK constraint
  3. FOREIGN KEY
  4. CASCADE
  5. Constraint management
  6. Summary - Constraints

18 Simple JOIN

  1. What is JOIN?
  2. INNER JOIN
  3. The ON clause
  4. Table aliases
  5. Multi-table JOIN
  6. Summary - Simple JOIN

19 Project: Inventory system

  1. Inventory design
  2. Product table
  3. Stock movements
  4. Stock report
  5. Low stock alert

20 Beginner final

  1. Customer query
  2. Order report
  3. Data update
  4. Table redesign