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The SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a new table in a database.

Syntax

CREATE TABLE table_name (
    column1 datatype,
    column2 datatype,
    column3 datatype,
   ....
);

The column parameters specify the names of the columns of the table.

The datatype parameter specifies the type of data the column can hold (e.g. varchar, integer, date, etc.).

Tip: For an overview of the available data types, go to our complete .

SQL CREATE TABLE Example

The following example creates a table called "Persons" that contains five columns: PersonID, LastName, FirstName, Address, and City:

Example

CREATE TABLE Persons (
    PersonID int,
    LastName varchar(255),
    FirstName varchar(255),
    Address varchar(255),
    City varchar(255)
);

The PersonID column is of type int and will hold an integer.

The LastName, FirstName, Address, and City columns are of type varchar and will hold characters, and the maximum length for these fields is 255 characters.

The empty "Persons" table will now look like this:

PersonID LastName FirstName Address City
         

Tip: The empty "Persons" table can now be filled with data with the SQL statement.

Create Table Using Another Table

A copy of an existing table can also be created using CREATE TABLE.

The new table gets the same column definitions. All columns or specific columns can be selected.

If you create a new table using an existing table, the new table will be filled with the existing values from the old table.

Syntax

CREATE TABLE new_table_name AS
    SELECT column1, column2,...
    FROM existing_table_name
    WHERE ....;

The following SQL creates a new table called "TestTables" (which is a copy of the "Customers" table): 

Example

CREATE TABLE TestTable AS
SELECT customername, contactname
FROM customers;

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Write the correct SQL statement to create a new table called Persons.

 (
  PersonID int,
  LastName varchar(255),
  FirstName varchar(255),
  Address varchar(255),
  City varchar(255) 
);


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