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Arithmetic Operators

Addition Operator (+)

The addition operator joins two numbers to find their total sum, such as combining a base price and a shipping fee. It is a fundamental operator in SQL math and works the same way inside SELECT, WHERE, or UPDATE expressions.

Example: Addition Operator (+)

sql
SELECT base_price + shipping_fee AS total FROM orders;

Subtraction Operator (-)

The subtraction operator deducts one number from another. You can use it to find the difference between two values, such as calculating days between a due date and today's date once combined with date functions.

Example: Subtraction Operator (-)

sql
SELECT price - discount AS final_price FROM orders;

Multiplication Operator (*)

The multiplication operator multiplies two numbers together. This is useful for scaling values or calculating totals, like multiplying unit price by quantity to get a line-item subtotal.

Example: Multiplication Operator (*)

sql
SELECT unit_price * quantity AS total FROM order_items;

Division Operator (/)

The division operator divides the first number by the second. It always returns a float result in MySQL, even when dividing two integers evenly, so remember to round or cast if you need a whole number.

Example: Division Operator (/)

sql
SELECT 10 / 4 AS result; -- always returns a float, even for exact division

Modulo Operator (%)

The modulo operator returns the remainder of a division. It is helpful for finding odd or even numbers, or for tasks like distributing rows evenly across a fixed number of buckets.

Example: Modulo Operator (%)

sql
SELECT id, id % 2 AS remainder FROM users; -- 0 = even, 1 = odd
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