SQL Parentheses in Conditions
Make the grouping explicit — never rely on a reader (or yourself, next month) remembering precedence rules.
What & Why
Wrapping part of a condition in parentheses forces that grouping explicitly, regardless of default precedence. The previous lesson's ambiguous query becomes unambiguous the moment it's parenthesized.
See How It Works
| id | name | channel | spend | start_date | end_date | status | target_segment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spring Launch | google_ads | 55000.00 | 2024-01-15 | 2024-03-31 | active | smb |
| 2 | Retention Webinar | 45000.00 | 2024-02-10 | 2024-04-15 | active | enterprise | |
| 3 | Finance Retargeting | 50000.00 | 2024-03-12 | 2024-05-31 | active | enterprise | |
| 4 | Enterprise Search | google_ads | 60000.00 | 2024-04-01 | 2024-06-30 | active | enterprise |
EXAMPLE QUERY
-- explicit: matches what the query intends
SELECT name FROM marketing.campaigns
WHERE (channel = 'linkedin' OR channel = 'email') AND spend > 40000;RESULT — the grouped condition is explicit
| name |
|---|
| Retention Webinar |
| Finance Retargeting |
Both campaigns belong to one of the grouped channels and have spend above 40000.
Sign up free to try it on a real business scenario