Applying Aggregate Functions and GROUP BY in MySQL
Jul 12, 2025 am 02:19 AMThe aggregation function is used to perform calculations on a set of values ??and return a single value. Common ones include COUNT, SUM, AVG, MAX, and MIN; GROUP BY groups data by one or more columns and applies an aggregation function to each group. For example, GROUP BY user_id is required to count the total order amount of each user; SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) FROM orders GROUP BY user_id; non-aggregated fields must appear in GROUP BY; multiple fields can be used for multi-condition grouping; HAVING is used instead of WHERE after grouping; application scenarios such as counting the number of classified products, maximum order users, monthly sales trends, etc. Mastering these can effectively solve data statistics problems.
In MySQL query, when we need to count and summarize the data, aggregate functions (such as COUNT
, SUM
, AVG
, MAX
, MIN
) come in handy. But having an aggregation function alone is not enough. Many times we need to group it by a certain field before doing statistics. At this time, we must use GROUP BY
in conjunction with it.

What is an aggregate function?
An aggregate function is a function that performs calculations on a set of values ??and returns a single value. Common ones include:

-
COUNT()
: count the number of rows -
SUM()
: Sum -
AVG()
: Find the average value -
MAX()
andMIN()
: Find the maximum or minimum value
For example, if you want to know the total amount of all orders in a certain order table, you can use:
SELECT SUM(amount) FROM orders;
This adds up amount
fields of the entire table and outputs a total number. But what if you want to know the total order amount for each user? GROUP BY
is needed at this time.

What does GROUP BY do?
The function of GROUP BY
is to group data by one or more columns, and then apply an aggregate function to each group separately.
For example, suppose you have a user order table orders
with user_id
and amount
fields. If you want to know the total order amount of each user, you can write it like this:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) AS total_amount FROM orders GROUP BY user_id;
The meaning of this statement is: grouped by user_id
, each group of data is performed once SUM(amount)
operation, and finally the total amount of each user is returned.
It should be noted that non-aggregated fields that appear in SELECT
generally need to appear after GROUP BY
. Otherwise, errors may occur or results may be unpredictable, especially if SQL mode ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY
is enabled.
Common misunderstandings and precautions
Don't miss GROUP BY
Many beginners make this mistake:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) FROM orders;
This statement will report an error in some database systems because user_id
is not aggregated and does not appear in GROUP BY
clause.
GROUP BY Multiple Fields
If you want to count by user and order year, you can write this:
SELECT user_id, YEAR(order_date), SUM(amount) FROM orders GROUP BY user_id, YEAR(order_date);
HAVING is used after aggregation
If you want to filter out users whose "total amount is greater than 1000", you cannot use WHERE
, but HAVING
:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) AS total FROM orders GROUP BY user_id HAVING total > 1000;
WHERE
filters rows before grouping, while HAVING
filters the results after grouping.
Examples of practical application scenarios
Scenario 1: Statistics the quantity of products under each category
SELECT category_id, COUNT(*) AS product_count FROM products GROUP BY category_id;
Scenario 2: Find the top 5 users with the most orders
SELECT user_id, COUNT(*) AS order_count FROM orders GROUP BY user_id ORDER BY order_count DESC LIMIT 5;
Scenario 3: Check the sales trends of each month
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(order_date, '%Y-%m') AS month, SUM(amount) AS total_sales FROM orders GROUP BY month ORDER BY month;
Basically that's it. Mastering the combination of aggregate functions and GROUP BY
can help you solve most data statistics problems. Although the syntax is not complicated, it is easy to ignore some details in actual queries, such as field omissions, misuse of WHERE
, etc., and you can become proficient after practicing a few more times.
The above is the detailed content of Applying Aggregate Functions and GROUP BY in MySQL. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

Hot AI Tools

Undress AI Tool
Undress images for free

Undresser.AI Undress
AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover
Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Clothoff.io
AI clothes remover

Video Face Swap
Swap faces in any video effortlessly with our completely free AI face swap tool!

Hot Article

Hot Tools

Notepad++7.3.1
Easy-to-use and free code editor

SublimeText3 Chinese version
Chinese version, very easy to use

Zend Studio 13.0.1
Powerful PHP integrated development environment

Dreamweaver CS6
Visual web development tools

SublimeText3 Mac version
God-level code editing software (SublimeText3)

Hot Topics

mysqldump is a common tool for performing logical backups of MySQL databases. It generates SQL files containing CREATE and INSERT statements to rebuild the database. 1. It does not back up the original file, but converts the database structure and content into portable SQL commands; 2. It is suitable for small databases or selective recovery, and is not suitable for fast recovery of TB-level data; 3. Common options include --single-transaction, --databases, --all-databases, --routines, etc.; 4. Use mysql command to import during recovery, and can turn off foreign key checks to improve speed; 5. It is recommended to test backup regularly, use compression, and automatic adjustment.

When handling NULL values ??in MySQL, please note: 1. When designing the table, the key fields are set to NOTNULL, and optional fields are allowed NULL; 2. ISNULL or ISNOTNULL must be used with = or !=; 3. IFNULL or COALESCE functions can be used to replace the display default values; 4. Be cautious when using NULL values ??directly when inserting or updating, and pay attention to the data source and ORM framework processing methods. NULL represents an unknown value and does not equal any value, including itself. Therefore, be careful when querying, counting, and connecting tables to avoid missing data or logical errors. Rational use of functions and constraints can effectively reduce interference caused by NULL.

GROUPBY is used to group data by field and perform aggregation operations, and HAVING is used to filter the results after grouping. For example, using GROUPBYcustomer_id can calculate the total consumption amount of each customer; using HAVING can filter out customers with a total consumption of more than 1,000. The non-aggregated fields after SELECT must appear in GROUPBY, and HAVING can be conditionally filtered using an alias or original expressions. Common techniques include counting the number of each group, grouping multiple fields, and filtering with multiple conditions.

MySQL paging is commonly implemented using LIMIT and OFFSET, but its performance is poor under large data volume. 1. LIMIT controls the number of each page, OFFSET controls the starting position, and the syntax is LIMITNOFFSETM; 2. Performance problems are caused by excessive records and discarding OFFSET scans, resulting in low efficiency; 3. Optimization suggestions include using cursor paging, index acceleration, and lazy loading; 4. Cursor paging locates the starting point of the next page through the unique value of the last record of the previous page, avoiding OFFSET, which is suitable for "next page" operation, and is not suitable for random jumps.

To view the size of the MySQL database and table, you can query the information_schema directly or use the command line tool. 1. Check the entire database size: Execute the SQL statement SELECTtable_schemaAS'Database',SUM(data_length index_length)/1024/1024AS'Size(MB)'FROMinformation_schema.tablesGROUPBYtable_schema; you can get the total size of all databases, or add WHERE conditions to limit the specific database; 2. Check the single table size: use SELECTta

To set up asynchronous master-slave replication for MySQL, follow these steps: 1. Prepare the master server, enable binary logs and set a unique server-id, create a replication user and record the current log location; 2. Use mysqldump to back up the master library data and import it to the slave server; 3. Configure the server-id and relay-log of the slave server, use the CHANGEMASTER command to connect to the master library and start the replication thread; 4. Check for common problems, such as network, permissions, data consistency and self-increase conflicts, and monitor replication delays. Follow the steps above to ensure that the configuration is completed correctly.

MySQL supports transaction processing, and uses the InnoDB storage engine to ensure data consistency and integrity. 1. Transactions are a set of SQL operations, either all succeed or all fail to roll back; 2. ACID attributes include atomicity, consistency, isolation and persistence; 3. The statements that manually control transactions are STARTTRANSACTION, COMMIT and ROLLBACK; 4. The four isolation levels include read not committed, read submitted, repeatable read and serialization; 5. Use transactions correctly to avoid long-term operation, turn off automatic commits, and reasonably handle locks and exceptions. Through these mechanisms, MySQL can achieve high reliability and concurrent control.

Character set and sorting rules issues are common when cross-platform migration or multi-person development, resulting in garbled code or inconsistent query. There are three core solutions: First, check and unify the character set of database, table, and fields to utf8mb4, view through SHOWCREATEDATABASE/TABLE, and modify it with ALTER statement; second, specify the utf8mb4 character set when the client connects, and set it in connection parameters or execute SETNAMES; third, select the sorting rules reasonably, and recommend using utf8mb4_unicode_ci to ensure the accuracy of comparison and sorting, and specify or modify it through ALTER when building the library and table.
