SQL
Function Purpose / Use Case Example (SQL/Python)
LOWER() Converts text to lowercase LOWER('HELLO') → 'hello'
UPPER() Converts text to uppercase UPPER('hello') → 'HELLO'
SUBSTRING() Extracts part of string SUBSTRING('VIVEK', 1, 3) → 'VIV'
LENGTH() Returns number of characters LENGTH('hello') → 5
Removes whitespace from both
TRIM() TRIM(' hello ') → 'hello'
ends
Removes whitespace from the
LTRIM() LTRIM(' hello') → 'hello'
left
Removes whitespace from the
RTRIM() RTRIM('hello ') → 'hello'
right
REPLACE() Replaces part of the string REPLACE('abcabc', 'a', 'x') → 'xbcxbc'
CONCAT() Joins two or more strings CONCAT('Hello', 'World') → 'HelloWorld'
CHARINDEX() / INSTR('OpenAI', 'AI') → 5 (1-based index
Finds index of substring
INSTR() in SQL)
LEFT() Gets leftmost characters LEFT('HELLO', 2) → 'HE'
RIGHT() Gets rightmost characters RIGHT('HELLO', 2) → 'LO'
Formats string (esp.
FORMAT() FORMAT(12345, '###,###') → '12,345'
dates/numbers)
REVERSE() Reverses the string REVERSE('abc') → 'cba'
Replaces NULL with a default
ISNULL() / IFNULL() IFNULL(NULL, 'N/A') → 'N/A'
value
Converts data type (e.g., string
CAST() / CONVERT() CAST('123' AS INT)
to int)
SQL
Function Purpose / Use Case Example (SQL/Python)
Returns ASCII code of first
ASCII() ASCII('A') → 65
character
Function Purpose / Use Case Example (SQL) Output
Counts the number
COUNT() SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Students; Total rows
of rows
Adds all numeric SELECT SUM(salary) FROM Total
SUM()
values Employees; salary
Calculates average of Average
AVG() SELECT AVG(marks) FROM Scores;
numeric values marks
Returns the smallest Youngest
MIN() SELECT MIN(age) FROM Users;
value age
Returns the largest SELECT MAX(salary) FROM Highest
MAX()
value Employees; salary
GROUP_CONCAT() / Concatenates strings SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(name)
Name list
STRING_AGG() in group FROM Students;
Sample variance of SELECT VAR_SAMP(salary) FROM
VAR_SAMP() Variance
numeric values Employees;
Standard deviation of SELECT STDDEV(marks) FROM Std
STDDEV()
values Scores; deviation
Counts unique values SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Unique
COUNT(DISTINCT)
only department) FROM Employees; depts
SQL
Function Description Example Query Output
Returns the absolute (positive)
ABS(x) SELECT ABS(-15) AS Result; 15
value
CEIL(x) / Returns the smallest integer ≥
SELECT CEIL(15.3) AS Result; 16
CEILING(x) x
FLOOR(x) Returns the largest integer ≤ x SELECT FLOOR(15.7) AS Result; 15
SELECT ROUND(15.678, 2) AS
ROUND(x, d) Rounds x to d decimal places 15.68
Result;
POWER(x, y) Returns x raised to power y SELECT POWER(2, 3) AS Result; 8
SQRT(x) Returns square root of x SELECT SQRT(25) AS Result; 5
EXP(x) Returns e raised to power x SELECT EXP(1) AS Result; 2.718...
LOG(x) Natural log (base e) SELECT LOG(10) AS Result; 2.302...
LOG10(x) Logarithm base 10 SELECT LOG10(100) AS Result; 2
MOD(x, y) Returns remainder (x ÷ y) SELECT MOD(17, 5) AS Result; 2
PI() Returns value of π SELECT PI() AS Result; 3.141593
SIN(x) Returns sine of x (radians) SELECT SIN(PI()/2) AS Result; 1
COS(x) Returns cosine of x (radians) SELECT COS(0) AS Result; 1
TAN(x) Returns tangent of x (radians) SELECT TAN(PI()/4) AS Result; 1
Returns a random number (0– e.g.,
RAND() SELECT RAND() AS Result;
1) 0.3746
SQL
Function Description Example ('1998-05-21') Output
YEAR(date) Gets the year YEAR('1998-05-21') 1998
Gets the month
MONTH(date) MONTH('1998-05-21') 5
number
DAY(date) or Gets the day of
DAY('1998-05-21') 21
DAYOFMONTH(date) month
Gets the day
DAYNAME(date) DAYNAME('1998-05-21') Thursday
name
Gets the month
MONTHNAME(date) MONTHNAME('1998-05-21') May
name
Current date & 2025-08-26
NOW() NOW()
time [Link]
CURDATE() Current date only CURDATE() 2025-08-26
CURTIME() Current time only CURTIME() [Link]
DATEDIFF('2025-08-26','1998-
DATEDIFF(date1, date2) Difference in days 9962
05-21')
ADDDATE(date, INTERVAL n ADDDATE('1998-05-21',
Add days 1998-05-31
DAY) INTERVAL 10 DAY)
SUBDATE(date, INTERVAL n SUBDATE('1998-05-21',
Subtract days 1998-05-16
DAY) INTERVAL 5 DAY)
DATE_FORMAT(date, '%Y- DATE_FORMAT('1998-05-
Format date 21-May-1998
%m-%d') 21','%d-%M-%Y')
