SQL POWER() function
POWER() function
SQL POWER() function returns the value of a number raised to another, where both of the numbers are passed as arguments. The SQL DISTINCT command along with the SQL POWER() function can be used to retrieve only unique data depending on a specified expression.
Syntax:
POWER( base, exponent )
Parameters:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| base | A number. |
| exponent | A number. |
PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server and Oracle
All of above platforms support the SQL syntax of POWER().
SQL POWER() function: Pictorial presentation
Example:
To get the power of 2 raised by 3 from the DUAL table, the following SQL statement can be used:
-- This SQL statement calculates the result of raising 2 to the power of 3 and selects the result from the 'dual' table.
SELECT POWER(2,3)
-- SELECT statement retrieves data from the database
-- POWER() function calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power
-- In this case, POWER(2,3) calculates 2 raised to the power of 3
FROM dual;
-- Specifies the 'dual' table, a special one-row, one-column table present in Oracle database
-- The 'dual' table is often used for performing calculations or returning single results in SQL queries
Explanation:
- This SQL query is straightforward, as it's only a single statement.
- The purpose of this query is to calculate the result of raising 2 to the power of 3.
- POWER() is a mathematical function that calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power.
- In this case, POWER(2,3) will return the result of 2 raised to the power of 3, which is 8.
- The result of the calculation, which is 8 in this case, will be selected as the output of the query.
- The 'dual' table is used here because it's a convenient way to execute single-row queries in Oracle SQL without needing to specify an actual table with data.
Output:
POWER(2,3)
----------
8
SQL POWER() function using column
Sample table: customer
To get data of 'cust_name', 'cust_country', 'grade' and power of 'grade' raised by 3 from the 'customer' table, the following SQL statement can be used :
-- This SQL statement selects customer name, customer country, grade, and the result of raising the grade to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table.
SELECT cust_name, cust_country, grade, POWER(grade,3)
-- SELECT statement retrieves data from the database
-- cust_name, cust_country, and grade are columns selected for output
-- POWER() function calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power
-- In this case, POWER(grade,3) calculates the result of raising the grade to the power of 3
FROM customer;
-- Specifies the 'customer' table from which the data is being retrieved
Explanation:
- This SQL query is designed to retrieve specific information from the 'customer' table.
- The SELECT statement specifies the columns that will be included in the output: cust_name, cust_country, grade, and the result of raising the grade to the power of 3.
- POWER() is a mathematical function that calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power.
- In this case, POWER(grade,3) will return the result of raising the 'grade' column value to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table.
- The query is executed against the 'customer' table to retrieve the required data.
Output:
CUST_NAME CUST_COUNTRY GRADE POWER(GRADE,3) ---------------------------------------- -------------------- ---------- -------------- Holmes UK 2 8 Micheal USA 2 8 Albert USA 3 27 Ravindran India 2 8 Cook UK 2 8 Stuart UK 1 1 Bolt USA 3 27 Fleming Australia 2 8 Jacks Australia 1 1 Yearannaidu India 1 1 Sasikant India 1 1 Ramanathan India 1 1 Avinash India 2 8 Winston Australia 1 1 Karl UK 0 0 Shilton Canada 1 1 Charles UK 3 27 Srinivas India 2 8 Steven USA 1 1 Karolina Canada 1 1 Martin Canada 2 8 Ramesh India 3 27 Rangarappa India 2 8 Venkatpati India 2 8 Sundariya India 3 27
SQL POWER() function with where
Sample table: customer
To get data of 'cust_name', 'cust_country', 'grade' and the power of 'grade' raised by 3 from the 'customer' table with the following condition -
1. 'cust_country' must be 'UK'
the following SQL statement can be used:
-- This SQL statement selects customer name, customer country, grade, and the result of raising the grade to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table where the customer country is 'UK'.
SELECT cust_name, cust_country, grade, POWER(grade,3)
-- SELECT statement retrieves data from the database
-- cust_name, cust_country, and grade are columns selected for output
-- POWER() function calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power
-- In this case, POWER(grade,3) calculates the result of raising the grade to the power of 3
FROM customer
-- Specifies the 'customer' table from which the data is being retrieved
WHERE cust_country = 'UK';
-- WHERE clause filters the rows based on a condition
-- It selects only those rows where the customer country is 'UK'
Explanation:
- This SQL query is designed to retrieve specific information from the 'customer' table for customers located in the UK.
- The SELECT statement specifies the columns that will be included in the output: cust_name, cust_country, grade, and the result of raising the grade to the power of 3.
- POWER() is a mathematical function that calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power.
- In this case, POWER(grade,3) will return the result of raising the 'grade' column value to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table where the customer country is 'UK'.
- The WHERE clause filters the rows from the 'customer' table based on the condition that the customer country is 'UK'.
- The query is executed against the 'customer' table to retrieve the required data.
Output:
CUST_NAME CUST_COUNTRY GRADE POWER(GRADE,3) ---------------------------------------- -------------------- ---------- -------------- Charles UK 3 27 Holmes UK 2 8 Cook UK 2 8 Stuart UK 1 1 Karl UK 0 0
SQL POWER() function with distinct
Sample table: customer
To get the unique power of 'grade' raised by 3 from the 'customer' table, the following SQL statement can be used:
-- This SQL statement selects distinct results of raising the grade to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table.
SELECT DISTINCT(POWER(grade,3))
-- SELECT statement retrieves data from the database
-- DISTINCT keyword ensures that only unique values are returned
-- POWER() function calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power
-- In this case, POWER(grade,3) calculates the result of raising the grade to the power of 3
FROM customer;
-- Specifies the 'customer' table from which the data is being retrieved
Explanation:
- This SQL query is designed to retrieve distinct results of raising the grade to the power of 3 from the 'customer' table.
- The SELECT statement specifies the expression POWER(grade,3) which calculates the result of raising the 'grade' column value to the power of 3.
- The DISTINCT keyword ensures that only unique values of the calculated expression are returned, preventing duplicates.
- The query is executed against the 'customer' table to retrieve the required data.
Output:
(POWER(GRADE,3))
----------------
1
8
27
0
SQL POWER() function with group by
Sample table: customer
To get the power of 'grade' raised by 3 from the 'customer' table with following conditions -
1. 'cust_country' must be 'UK',
2. each unique power of 'grade' raised by 3 should be in a group,
the following SQL statement can be used :
-- This SQL statement calculates the result of raising the grade to the power of 3 for each row in the 'customer' table where the customer country is 'UK', and groups the results by the calculated power values.
SELECT POWER(grade,3)
-- SELECT statement retrieves data from the database
-- POWER() function calculates the result of raising a number to a specified power
-- In this case, POWER(grade,3) calculates the result of raising the grade to the power of 3
FROM customer
-- Specifies the 'customer' table from which the data is being retrieved
WHERE cust_country = 'UK'
-- WHERE clause filters the rows based on a condition
-- It selects only those rows where the customer country is 'UK'
GROUP BY POWER(grade,3);
-- GROUP BY clause groups the results based on a specified expression
-- In this case, it groups the results by the calculated power values of grade raised to the power of 3
Explanation:
- This SQL query is designed to calculate the result of raising the grade to the power of 3 for each customer located in the UK and group the results by the calculated power values.
- The SELECT statement specifies the expression POWER(grade,3) which calculates the result of raising the 'grade' column value to the power of 3.
- The WHERE clause filters the rows from the 'customer' table based on the condition that the customer country is 'UK'.
- The GROUP BY clause groups the results based on the calculated power values of grade raised to the power of 3. This ensures that rows with the same power value are grouped together.
- The query is executed against the 'customer' table to retrieve the required data.
Output:
POWER(GRADE,3)
--------------
1
8
27
0
Note: Outputs of the said SQL statement shown here is taken by using Oracle Database 10g Express Edition.
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