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Using Data Manipulation Functions

In this chapter, you’ll learn what functions are, what types of functions MySQL supports, and how to use these functions.

Understanding Functions

Like almost any other computer language, SQL supports the use of functions to manipulate data. Functions are operations that are usually performed on data, typically to facilitate conversion and manipulation.

An example of a function is the RTrim() function that we used in the last chapter to trim any spaces from the end of a string.

Note

Functions Are Less Portable Than SQL Code that runs on multiple systems is said to be portable. Most SQL statements are relatively portable, and when differences between SQL implementations occur, they are usually not very difficult ...

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