MIN and MAX functions in MySQL - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ query_result

intermediate

Find the minimum salary in the Employees table

Given the Employees table with columns id, name, and salary, what is the result of this query?

SELECT MIN(salary) FROM Employees;

MySQL

CREATE TABLE Employees (id INT, name VARCHAR(50), salary INT);
INSERT INTO Employees VALUES (1, 'Alice', 5000), (2, 'Bob', 7000), (3, 'Charlie', 6000);

A [{"MIN(salary)": null}]

B [{"MIN(salary)": 6000}]

C [{"MIN(salary)": 7000}]

D [{"MIN(salary)": 5000}]

💡 Hint

MIN returns the smallest value in the column.

The smallest salary among 5000, 7000, and 6000 is 5000.

❓ query_result

intermediate

Find the maximum age in the Users table

Given the Users table with columns user_id, username, and age, what is the output of this query?

SELECT MAX(age) FROM Users;

MySQL

CREATE TABLE Users (user_id INT, username VARCHAR(50), age INT);
INSERT INTO Users VALUES (1, 'john', 25), (2, 'jane', 30), (3, 'doe', 28);

A [{"MAX(age)": 30}]

B [{"MAX(age)": null}]

C [{"MAX(age)": 28}]

D [{"MAX(age)": 25}]

💡 Hint

MAX returns the largest value in the column.

The largest age among 25, 30, and 28 is 30.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Identify the syntax error in using MIN function

Which option contains a syntax error when trying to find the minimum price from the Products table?

MySQL

CREATE TABLE Products (product_id INT, product_name VARCHAR(50), price DECIMAL(10,2));
INSERT INTO Products VALUES (1, 'Pen', 1.20), (2, 'Notebook', 2.50), (3, 'Eraser', 0.80);

A SELECT MIN price FROM Products;

B SELECT MIN(price) FROM Products;

C SELECT MIN(price) AS min_price FROM Products;

D SELECT MIN(price) FROM Products WHERE price > 0;

💡 Hint

MIN function requires parentheses around the column name.

Option A misses parentheses around price, causing a syntax error.

❓ query_result

advanced

Find the maximum and minimum scores in one query

Given the Scores table with columns student_id and score, what is the output of this query?

SELECT MAX(score) AS max_score, MIN(score) AS min_score FROM Scores;

MySQL

CREATE TABLE Scores (student_id INT, score INT);
INSERT INTO Scores VALUES (1, 88), (2, 92), (3, 75), (4, 92), (5, 60);

A [{"max_score": 88, "min_score": 60}]

B [{"max_score": 92, "min_score": 75}]

C [{"max_score": 92, "min_score": 60}]

D [{"max_score": 75, "min_score": 60}]

💡 Hint

MAX and MIN can be selected together in one query.

The highest score is 92 and the lowest is 60.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Understanding MIN and MAX with NULL values

Consider the table Measurements with a column value that contains some NULLs. What will the query

SELECT MIN(value), MAX(value) FROM Measurements;

return?

MySQL

CREATE TABLE Measurements (value INT);
INSERT INTO Measurements VALUES (10), (NULL), (5), (NULL), (20);

A [{"MIN(value)": null, "MAX(value)": null}]

B [{"MIN(value)": 5, "MAX(value)": 20}]

C [{"MIN(value)": 0, "MAX(value)": 20}]

D [{"MIN(value)": 5, "MAX(value)": null}]

💡 Hint

MIN and MAX ignore NULL values in aggregation.

MIN and MAX ignore NULLs and return the smallest and largest non-null values.