Why do we use only the special symbol ‘*’ in select statemen

Question

Recently one of my friend was asked an interesting question in an interview …

“Why do we use only the special symbol ‘*’ in select statement ??”

“We have lot many special symbols in the key board … then why to use only * ?? is there any special reason ??”

Can anyone answer this question please?

Vivek Bansod · Answer

Seems like * has been interpreted as ALL in SQL statements. Its global syntax, i mean used in all back-end providers or that's how parser is designed. Also we can use sql queries in browser address bar when other special chars are encoded in Url where as * is not

Francis · Answer

I don't know, why these kind of questions are asked, especially in "technical" interviews. Using * in select statement is by design. The experts, who construct the SQL rules defined this. Also in "like" clause we are using "%" symbol. I think, this is the next question from the interviewer.(why we are using % in "like" clause, instead of some special character) :) . SQL was initially developed at IBM by Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce in the early 1970s. If you want more accurate answer you should consider to contact them! :) BTW, answer for your question is, the designers may be think "*" denotes "ALL". That's all!

Rajeesh Menoth · Answer

Hi, Interesting..!! Reference : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3639861/why-is-select-considered-harmful