SQL FIRST( ) Function

The FIRST() Function

The FIRST() function returns the first value of the selected column.

SQL FIRST() Syntax

SELECT FIRST(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL FIRST() Example

We have the following "result" table:

Student_No	Subject_No	Year_Exam	Marks
ST101	SU03	1	69
ST102	SU01	1	61
ST101	SU04	1	70
ST101	SU05	1	87
ST103	SU01	2	51
ST103	SU03	1	59
ST103	SU01	3	56
ST108	SU01	1	78
ST105	SU05	2	98

Now we want to find the first value of the "Marks" column.

We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT FIRST(Marks) AS First_Marks FROM result;

Tip: Workaround if FIRST() function is not supported:

SELECT Marks FROM result ORDER BY Student_No LIMIT 1;

The result-set will look like this:

marks

69