The SQL CREATE TABLE Statement
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a new table in a database.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype constraint,
column2 datatype constraint,
column3 datatype constraint,
....
);
The table_name parameter specifies the name of the new table.
The column1, column2, ... parameters specify the names of the columns within the table.
The datatype parameter specifies the data type of each column (e.g. varchar, int, date, etc.).
The constraint parameter is optional, and specifies rules for data integrity (e.g. primary key, not null, etc.).
Tip: Learn more about constraints in our SQL Constraints chapter.
Tip: For an overview of the available data types, go to our complete Data Types Reference.
CREATE TABLE Example
The following example creates a table named "Persons" with five columns:
Example
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
PersonID int PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255)
);
Example Explained:
- PersonID - This column is of type integer (int). This is also the PRIMARY KEY field, that uniquely identifies each row.
- LastName - This column is a variable-length character string with a maximum length of 255 characters (varchar(255)). NOT NULL specifies that this column cannot be empty.
- FirstName, Address, City - These columns are also variable-length character strings with a maximum length of 255 characters (varchar(255)). These columns allow NULL values by default.
The empty "Persons" table will now look like this:
| PersonID | LastName | FirstName | Address | City |
|---|
Tip: The empty "Persons" table can now be filled with data, with the SQL INSERT INTO statement.
Create New Table From Existing Table
The CREATE TABLE statement can also be used to create a new table that copies some/all data from an existing table.
If you create a new table from an existing table, the new table will be filled with the values from the existing table.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE new_table AS
SELECT column1, column2,...
FROM
existing_table
WHERE ....;
The following SQL creates a new table called "GermanCustomers" (which is a copy of the "Customers" table):
Example
CREATE TABLE
GermanCustomers AS
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country = 'Germany';
