MySQL STD() function

STD() function

MySQL STD() function returns the population standard deviation of expression. The standard deviation is a statistical measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion in a dataset.

It returns NULL if no matching row is found.

This function is useful in -

• It gives you an idea of how much individual values deviate from the average.
• A higher standard deviation indicates more spread-out data, while a lower standard deviation indicates more closely grouped data.
• When analyzing data, the standard deviation helps you understand the distribution of values and identify potential outliers or anomalies.
• In finance and risk analysis, standard deviation is used to measure the volatility or risk associated with investment returns or financial instruments.
• In manufacturing or quality control processes, standard deviation helps assess the consistency of product specifications and identify variations that may require corrective actions.
• Standard deviation is used to calculate confidence intervals, which provide a range within which a population parameter is likely to fall.
• You can use standard deviation to compare the variability of different datasets and assess their similarity or difference.

Syntax:

STD(expr);

Where expr is an expression.

MySQL Version : 8.0

Example: MySQL STD() function

The following MySQL statement will return the population standard deviation of 'total_cost' from 'purchase' table.

Sample table: purchase

Code:

-- This query calculates the standard deviation of the 'total_cost' column in the 'purchase' table.
SELECT STD(total_cost)              
-- This statement selects the standard deviation of the 'total_cost' column.
FROM purchase;
-- This part of the query specifies the table from which data is being retrieved, which is 'purchase'.

Explanation:

• The purpose of this SQL query is to compute the standard deviation of the 'total_cost' values in the 'purchase' table.


• SELECT STD(total_cost): This part of the query selects the standard deviation of the 'total_cost' column. Standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values.


• FROM purchase: This part specifies the table from which the data is being selected, which is the 'purchase' table.


• The query will return a single value, which is the standard deviation of the 'total_cost' values in the 'purchase' table. This value provides insight into the spread or dispersion of the 'total_cost' values in the dataset.

Output:

mysql> SELECT STD(total_cost)
    -> FROM purchase;
+-----------------+
| STD(total_cost) |
+-----------------+
|      315.392172 | 
+-----------------+
1 row in set (0.23 sec)

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