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Data Science & Analytics vocabulary · SQL and Querying

Query

Meaning in data science & analytics, with examples

/ˈkwɪri/nounCore term

In data science & analytics, query means: A request for specific data from a database, usually written in SQL; as a verb, to ask a database or dataset for that data.

In Turkish: sorgu, sorgulamak

How it is used

You write, run, optimise and debug a query; a slow query 'times out'. As a verb: 'query the table'. In emails 'query' can also simply mean a question, as in 'a quick query about the report'.

Example sentences

  1. This query scans the whole events table, which is why it takes ten minutes.

  2. You can query the orders table directly; you don't need the export.

Common collocations

  • write a query
  • run a query
  • slow query
  • query the database
  • optimize a query
  • SQLShort for Structured Query Language: the standard language for reading, filtering, combining and changing data stored in relational databases and data warehouses.
  • joinAn operation that combines rows from two or more tables using a shared column, such as a customer ID; as a verb, to combine tables in this way.
  • filterTo keep only the rows of data that meet certain conditions, such as orders from 2024 or users in Turkey, and leave out the rest.
  • CTEShort for common table expression: a temporary, named result defined with WITH at the start of a SQL query, which makes long queries easier to read.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: SQL and Querying

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