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Print only the newest record for each name – Use SQL Window functions (ROW_NUMBER, RANK, etc.)

SQLmedium0.5 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
Pubmatic
Key Concepts Tested
partitionsqlwindow
Expert AnswerPremium
90 wordsInterview-ready
Newest record per name: SELECT * FROM (SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY name ORDER BY created_at DESC) rn FROM t) t2 WHERE rn=1. Or RANK if ties should all be kept. DENSE_RANK for consecutive ranks. Use FIRST_VALUE/LAST_VALUE for single column: SELECT name, FIRST_VALUE(col) OVER (PARTITION BY name ORDER BY ts DESC) FROM t; then GROUP BY or DISTINCT. **Why it matters**: Design choices compound at scale—wrong approach can cause 100× overhead....
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