What is the purpose of the “SELECT DISTINCT” statement in SQL?

In SQL, the `SELECT DISTINCT` statement is used to select unique values from a table. Its purpose is to return non-repeating values in a column, effectively removing duplicate rows.

When you execute `SELECT DISTINCT column_name FROM table_name`, it retrieves all unique values in the specified column and returns each unique value as a separate row. This can help you quickly identify the different values present in the table without displaying duplicated data.

`SELECT DISTINCT` is useful in the following situations:

Eliminate duplicate rows: To remove duplicate rows from the result set, you can use `SELECT DISTINCT`.

2. Data analysis and reporting: By using `SELECT DISTINCT` on a column, you can obtain a list of unique values in that column, allowing you to understand the different types or categories of data.

It’s important to note that `SELECT DISTINCT` is only used for selecting the unique values of a single column. If you need to select unique combinations of multiple columns, use the `GROUP BY` clause.