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Explain the order in which SQL clauses are executed.

SQLmedium0.4 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
487
questions in SQL
Difficulty Split
130E|271M|86H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Fossil Group
Key Concepts Tested
joinsql
Expert AnswerPremium
79 wordsInterview-ready
**Logical order**: (1) FROM/JOIN—sources; (2) WHERE—row filter; (3) GROUP BY—aggregation; (4) HAVING—aggregate filter; (5) SELECT—projection, expressions, aliases; (6) DISTINCT; (7) ORDER BY; (8) LIMIT/OFFSET. **Why it matters**: You can't reference SELECT aliases in WHERE (they don't exist yet); HAVING runs after GROUP BY so you filter on aggregates. **Optimizer reality**: Plan may reorder (predicate pushdown, join reorder) but semantics preserve this order....
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