**Course Title:** SQL Mastery: From Fundamentals to Advanced Techniques **Section Title:** Modifying Data: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE **Topic:** Inserting new records into a database (INSERT INTO) Welcome to the topic of inserting new records into a database using the INSERT INTO statement in SQL. This statement is used to add new rows to an existing table in a database. In this topic, you will learn the different ways to insert data into a table and understand the best practices to follow when doing so. ### Why Use the INSERT INTO Statement? The INSERT INTO statement is an essential SQL command that allows you to add new data to a database. This is useful in a variety of situations, such as: * Adding new customers to a customer database * Inserting new orders into an ecommerce database * Creating new user accounts in a web application ### Basic Syntax of the INSERT INTO Statement The basic syntax of the INSERT INTO statement is as follows: ```sql INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, ..., columnN) VALUES (value1, value2, ..., valueN); ``` * `table_name` is the name of the table where you want to insert the data. * `column1`, `column2`, ..., `columnN` are the columns where you want to insert the data. * `value1`, `value2`, ..., `valueN` are the values you want to insert into the columns. ### Example: Inserting a Single Row into a Table Suppose we have a table called `employees` with the following structure: | Column Name | Data Type | | --- | --- | | `id` | `int` | | `name` | `varchar(255)` | | `department` | `varchar(255)` | | `salary` | `decimal(10, 2)` | To insert a new row into the `employees` table, you can use the following INSERT INTO statement: ```sql INSERT INTO employees (name, department, salary) VALUES ('John Doe', 'Marketing', 50000.00); ``` This statement will insert a new row into the `employees` table with the specified values for `name`, `department`, and `salary`. ### Inserting Multiple Rows into a Table You can also insert multiple rows into a table using a single INSERT INTO statement. To do this, you need to separate each row with a comma. ```sql INSERT INTO employees (name, department, salary) VALUES ('John Smith', 'Sales', 60000.00), ('Jane Doe', 'HR', 40000.00), ('Bob Johnson', 'IT', 55000.00); ``` This statement will insert three new rows into the `employees` table. ### Best Practices for Using the INSERT INTO Statement Here are some best practices to follow when using the INSERT INTO statement: * Always specify the columns you want to insert data into to avoid potential errors. * Use the `VALUES` keyword to separate the values from the column names. * Use parentheses to enclose the column names and the values. * Use commas to separate each value or column name. * Use semicolons to terminate the INSERT INTO statement. ### Conclusion In this topic, you learned how to use the INSERT INTO statement to add new rows to a table in a database. You also learned the basic syntax, examples, and best practices for using the INSERT INTO statement. To practice your skills, try the following exercise: **Exercise:** Create a new table called `orders` with the following structure: `id`, `customer_name`, `order_date`, `total_amount`. Insert five new rows into the `orders` table using the INSERT INTO statement. **Additional Resources:** * [W3Schools: SQL INSERT INTO Statement](https://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_insert.asp) * [MySQL: INSERT INTO Statement](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/insert.html) **Leave a Comment:** If you have any questions or need help with the exercise, please leave a comment below. In the next topic, we will cover how to update existing records using the UPDATE statement.