{"id":489,"date":"2016-04-05T15:12:39","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T15:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sqltutorial.org\/?page_id=489"},"modified":"2025-04-11T17:35:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T00:35:31","slug":"sql-create-table","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-create-table\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL CREATE TABLE Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the SQL <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement to create a new table in the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='introduction-to-sql-create-table-statement'>Introduction to SQL CREATE TABLE statement <a href=\"#introduction-to-sql-create-table-statement\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"introduction-to-sql-create-table-statement\" title=\"Anchor for Introduction to SQL CREATE TABLE statement\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In relational databases, a table is a structured set of data organized into rows and columns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rows represent records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Columns represent attributes of data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To create a new table, you use the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement. Here&#8217;s the basic syntax of the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">TABLE<\/span> table_name (\n     column1 datatype <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">constraint<\/span>,\n     column2 datatype <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">constraint<\/span>,\n     ...\n);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>table_name<\/code> is the name of the table you want to create.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>column1<\/code>, <code>column2<\/code>, &#8230; are the column names of the table.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each table column is associated with a data type it can store and an optional rule for data. In the database, we call this rule a constraint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='sql-create-table-statement-example'>SQL CREATE TABLE statement example <a href=\"#sql-create-table-statement-example\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"sql-create-table-statement-example\" title=\"Anchor for SQL CREATE TABLE statement example\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following example uses the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement to create a new table called <code>courses<\/code> that stores the course name, description, and duration:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">TABLE<\/span> courses (\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">name<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-built_in\">VARCHAR<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-number\">255<\/span>) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NOT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-literal\">NULL<\/span>,\n  description <span class=\"hljs-built_in\">TEXT<\/span>,\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">duration<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-built_in\">DEC<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-number\">4<\/span>, <span class=\"hljs-number\">2<\/span>) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NOT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-literal\">NULL<\/span>\n);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=Q1JFQVRFIFRBQkxFIGNvdXJzZXMgKCBuYW1lIFZBUkNIQVIoMjU1KSBOT1QgTlVMTCwgZGVzY3JpcHRpb24gVEVYVCwgZHVyYXRpb24gREVDKDQsIDIpIE5PVCBOVUxMICk7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>courses<\/code> table has three columns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>name<\/code> column stores the course name. The data type of the <code>name<\/code> column is <code>VARCHAR<\/code> with a maximum of <code>255<\/code> characters. If you store a string that larger than this, the database system will issue an error. The <code>NOT NULL<\/code> is a constraint to ensure that the <code>name<\/code> column will always have data. In other words, it must not have <code>NULL<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>description<\/code> column stores the course&#8217;s description. The data type of the <code>description<\/code> column is <code>TEXT<\/code> which can store very large text. The <code>description<\/code> has no constraints like <code>NOT NULL<\/code>. It means that you can store <code>NULL<\/code> in the column.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>duration<\/code> column stores the course&#8217;s duration in hours such as <code>4.5<\/code>. The data type of the <code>duration<\/code> column is <code>DEC(4,2)<\/code> that stores exact decimal numbers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='if-not-exists-option'>IF NOT EXISTS option <a href=\"#if-not-exists-option\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"if-not-exists-option\" title=\"Anchor for IF NOT EXISTS option\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The database system will issue an error if you attempt to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-create-table\/\">create a table<\/a> that already exists. To avoid the error, you can use the <code>IF EXISTS<\/code> option in the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">TABLE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IF<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NOT<\/span> EXIST table_name (\n   column1 datatype <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">constraint<\/span>,\n   column2 datatype <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">constraint<\/span>,\n   ...\n);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement with the <code>IF NOT EXISTS<\/code> option creates a table only when the table does not exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the table already exists, the database system may issue a warning or notice and won&#8217;t do anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='summary'>Summary <a href=\"#summary\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"summary\" title=\"Anchor for Summary\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A database is a collection of tables.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A table stores a list of rows or records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement to create a new table.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the <code>CREATE TABLE<\/code> statement with the <code>IF NOT EXISTS<\/code> option to create a table only if it does not exist.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='databases'>Databases <a href=\"#databases\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"databases\" title=\"Anchor for Databases\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-tutorial\/postgresql-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PostgreSQL CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oracletutorial.com\/oracle-basics\/oracle-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oracle CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/sql-server-basics\/sql-server-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SQL Server CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysqltutorial.org\/mysql-basics\/mysql-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MySQL CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlitetutorial.net\/sqlite-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SQLite CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.db2tutorial.com\/db2-basics\/db2-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Db2 CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mariadbtutorial.com\/mariadb-basics\/mariadb-create-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MariaDB CREATE TABLE<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='quiz'>Quiz <a href=\"#quiz\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"quiz\" title=\"Anchor for Quiz\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\"\n  name=\"quiz\"\n  src=\"\/quiz\/?quiz=create-table\"\n  height=\"700\"\n  width=\"600\"\n  class=\"iframe\"\n><\/iframe>\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-thumbs\">\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\tdata-post=\"489\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-create-table\/\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-title=\"SQL CREATE TABLE 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