UPDATE single column in SQL - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to update the salary column to 50000 for all employees.

SQL

UPDATE employees SET salary = [1];

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Asalary

B'50000'

C50000

DNULL

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Putting numeric values inside quotes, which makes them strings.

Using the column name instead of a value.

The salary column should be set to the numeric value 50000 without quotes.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to update the status column to 'active' for employees with id 10.

SQL

UPDATE employees SET status = [1] WHERE id = 10;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'active'

Bactive

C"active"

DACTIVE

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted strings which causes syntax errors.

Using double quotes which may not be supported in all SQL dialects.

String values in SQL must be enclosed in single quotes.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to update the age column to 30 for user with username 'john'.

SQL

UPDATE users SET age = [1] WHERE username = 'john';

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aage

B30

C'30'

DNULL

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using quotes around numbers causing type mismatch.

Using the column name instead of a value.

Age is a number, so it should be set without quotes.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to update the price column to 19.99 for product with id 5.

SQL

UPDATE products SET price = [1] WHERE id [2] 5;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A19.99

B=

C>

D<

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using comparison operators other than '=' in WHERE clause.

Putting numeric values in quotes.

The price should be set to 19.99 and the condition must use '=' to match id 5.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to update the quantity column to 100 for order with order_id 200 and status 'pending'.

SQL

UPDATE orders SET quantity = [1] WHERE order_id [2] [3] AND status = 'pending';

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A100

B=

C200

D'pending'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using quotes around numbers.

Using wrong comparison operators.

Confusing status with order_id in WHERE clause.

Set quantity to 100, match order_id with '=', and use 200 as the id value.

Practice

1. What does the SQL statement UPDATE employees SET salary = 5000 WHERE id = 3; do?

easy

A. It changes the salary to 5000 for the employee with id 3.

B. It adds a new employee with salary 5000 and id 3.

C. It deletes the employee with id 3.

D. It shows the salary of employee with id 3.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the UPDATE statement

   The UPDATE command changes existing data in a table.

2. Step 2: Analyze the SET and WHERE clauses

   SET salary = 5000 changes the salary column, WHERE id = 3 limits the change to the employee with id 3.

3. Final Answer:

   It changes the salary to 5000 for the employee with id 3. -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   UPDATE with SET and WHERE changes specified rows [OK]

Hint: UPDATE changes data; SET picks column; WHERE picks rows [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking UPDATE adds new rows
• Forgetting WHERE updates all rows
• Confusing UPDATE with SELECT

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to update the price column to 20 in the products table for product with id 10?

easy

A. UPDATE products SET price = 20 WHERE id = 10;

B. UPDATE products price = 20 WHERE id = 10;

C. UPDATE products SET price WHERE id = 10 = 20;

D. UPDATE products SET price = 20;

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the UPDATE syntax

   The correct syntax is UPDATE table_name SET column = value WHERE condition;

2. Step 2: Validate each option

   UPDATE products SET price = 20 WHERE id = 10; matches the correct syntax with SET and WHERE clauses properly used.

3. Final Answer:

   UPDATE products SET price = 20 WHERE id = 10; -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Correct UPDATE syntax uses SET column = value and WHERE [OK]

Hint: Always use SET column = value and WHERE condition [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting SET keyword
• Placing WHERE before SET
• Missing semicolon at end

3. Given the table students with columns id, name, and grade, what will be the result of this query?

UPDATE students SET grade = 90 WHERE name = 'Alice';

Assuming the table before update:

id | name  | grade
1  | Alice | 85
2  | Bob   | 88
3  | Alice | 92

medium

A. No rows will be updated because name is not unique.

B. Only the first row with name 'Alice' will be updated.

C. Both rows with name 'Alice' will have grade updated to 90.

D. All rows in the table will have grade set to 90.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the WHERE clause effect

   WHERE name = 'Alice' matches all rows where name is exactly 'Alice'.

2. Step 2: Apply UPDATE to matching rows

   Both rows with name 'Alice' (id 1 and 3) will have their grade set to 90.

3. Final Answer:

   Both rows with name 'Alice' will have grade updated to 90. -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   UPDATE affects all rows matching WHERE condition [OK]

Hint: WHERE filters all matching rows, not just one [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming only one row updates with non-unique WHERE
• Thinking UPDATE without WHERE updates one row
• Confusing UPDATE with SELECT

4. Identify the error in this SQL statement:

UPDATE orders SET status 'shipped' WHERE order_id = 101;

medium

A. Incorrect table name.

B. Missing equal sign (=) between column and value.

C. Using single quotes around column name.

D. Missing WHERE clause.

Solution

1. Step 1: Check SET clause syntax

   SET clause must have column = value format. Here, equal sign is missing.

2. Step 2: Verify other parts

   WHERE clause is present, table name looks correct, and no quotes around column name.

3. Final Answer:

   Missing equal sign (=) between column and value. -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   SET requires column = value syntax [OK]

Hint: SET needs column = value, not just column value [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting equal sign in SET
• Forgetting WHERE causes all rows update
• Using quotes incorrectly around column names

5. You have a table inventory with columns item_id, quantity, and price. You want to increase the price by 10% only for items with quantity less than 5. Which SQL statement correctly updates the price column?

hard

A. UPDATE inventory SET price = price + 10 WHERE quantity < 5;

B. UPDATE inventory SET price = price + 0.10 WHERE quantity < 5;

C. UPDATE inventory SET price = price * 0.10 WHERE quantity < 5;

D. UPDATE inventory SET price = price * 1.10 WHERE quantity < 5;

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the requirement

   Increase price by 10% means multiply price by 1.10.

2. Step 2: Check the WHERE condition

   Only update rows where quantity is less than 5.

3. Step 3: Evaluate each option

   UPDATE inventory SET price = price * 1.10 WHERE quantity < 5; correctly multiplies price by 1.10 with proper WHERE clause.

4. Final Answer:

   UPDATE inventory SET price = price * 1.10 WHERE quantity < 5; -> Option D

5. Quick Check:

   Multiply price by 1.10 to increase by 10% [OK]

Hint: Multiply price by 1.10 to increase by 10% [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Adding 10 instead of 10%
• Multiplying by 0.10 reduces price
• Adding 0.10 increases price by 0.10 units only