SQL COUNT(*) Vs COUNT(column_name)

Dennis Ålund

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11 May 2010CPOL

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Well, another major point is that the two variants serve different purposes by definition. -- Count rows where 'column_name' is NOT NULLSELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM Table_Name-- Count ALL rows in Table_Name SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Table_Name-- ... which you just as well can...

Well, another major point is that the two variants serve different purposes by definition.

SQL

-- Count rows where 'column_name' is NOT NULL
SELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM Table_Name

-- Count ALL rows in Table_Name 
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Table_Name

-- ... which you just as well can exchange with a constant
SELECT COUNT(1) FROM Table_Name

In other words, it's not "which one is faster", it's "which one serves the purpose".

License

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