Summary  
This chapter covers using the SQL WHERE clause with IS NULL to filter rows that contain null values.

General domain of usage  
Relational database querying

If a column doesn't contain any data, it's considered `NULL`. To determine if a value is `NULL`, you don’t just check for equality. Instead, you use the `WHERE` clause with `IS NULL` in a `SELECT` statement to find rows where the column’s value is `NULL`.

The syntax for it looks like this: 

```sql
SELECT columns
FROM table 
WHERE column_name IS NULL;
```

Let's illustrate this with an example:




SELECT name
FROM country
WHERE region IS NULL;

import unittest
import pandas as pd
class TestTask(unittest.TestCase):
    @classmethod
    def setUpClass(cls):
        import psycopg2
        cls.connection = psycopg2.connect(
            host="localhost",
            user="agent",
            password="qwerty",
            dbname="testdb",
            sslmode="disable"
        )
        cls.cursor = cls.connection.cursor()

    def test_correct_columns_selected(self):
        """Check that only 'name' and 'capital' columns are selected."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as f:
            user_query = f.read()
        self.cursor.execute(user_query)
        columns = [desc[0] for desc in self.cursor.description]
        expected_cols = ["name", "capital"]
        condition = columns == expected_cols
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            condition,
            "Query selects only 'name' and 'capital' columns.",
            f"Query columns are {columns}, expected {expected_cols}."
        )

    def test_returns_only_null_population(self):
        """Check that only rows with population IS NULL are returned."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as f:
            user_query = f.read()
        self.cursor.execute(user_query)
        rows = self.cursor.fetchall()
        if not rows:
            # No results, so nothing with NULL population
            condition = True
        else:
            # Check that every returned row corresponds to a country with population IS NULL
            for row in rows:
                name, capital = row
                self.cursor.execute(
                    "SELECT population FROM country WHERE name = %s AND capital = %s",
                    (name, capital)
                )
                pop = self.cursor.fetchone()
                if pop is None or pop[0] is not None:
                    condition = False
                    break
            else:
                condition = True
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            condition,
            "All returned rows have population IS NULL.",
            "Some returned rows do not have population IS NULL."
        )

    def test_expected_rows_present(self):
        """Check that all expected countries with NULL population are present."""
        # Get expected rows
        self.cursor.execute(
            "SELECT name, capital FROM country WHERE population IS NULL ORDER BY name, capital"
        )
        expected = self.cursor.fetchall()
        # Get user rows
        with open("query.sql", "r") as f:
            user_query = f.read()
        self.cursor.execute(user_query)
        user_rows = self.cursor.fetchall()
        # Compare as sets of tuples
        expected_set = set(expected)
        user_set = set(user_rows)
        missing = expected_set - user_set
        extra = user_set - expected_set
        condition = (missing == set())
        fail_msg = ""
        if missing:
            fail_msg += f"Missing expected rows: {missing}. "
        if extra:
            fail_msg += f"Found unexpected rows: {extra}."
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            condition,
            "All expected rows with NULL population are present.",
            fail_msg.strip()
        )

    def test_query_uses_is_null(self):
        """Check that the query uses 'IS NULL' in the WHERE clause for population."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as f:
            user_query = f.read().lower().replace("\\n", " ")
        condition = ("where" in user_query and "population" in user_query and "is null" in user_query)
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            condition,
            "Query uses IS NULL for population in WHERE clause.",
            "Query does not use 'IS NULL' for population in WHERE clause."
        )

def _dynamic_test(test_case, condition, success_message, failure_message):
    if condition:
        test_case._testMethodName = success_message
        test_case.assertTrue(True, success_message)
    else:
        test_case._testMethodName = failure_message
        test_case.fail(failure_message)

def normalize_text(text):
    text = text.lower()
    text = re.sub(r"\s{2,}", " ", text)
    text = re.sub(r"\s*([,:?])\s*", r"\1 ", text)
    return text.strip()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()


test_solution.py

This course is perfect for beginners ready to explore the world of SQL. Whether you're just starting out in database management or aiming to use SQL for your application development projects, this course covers the essentials. You'll quickly learn how to leverage the full potential of SQL, from querying and managing data to seamlessly integrating it into real-world applications. By the end of the course, you'll have the confidence and skills to solve practical problems with SQL and enhance your development process.

In this section, we will learn how to use the SQL SELECT statement to get a single table column, multiple table columns, and all table columns. We will also find out how to return unique values.

In this section, we’ll explore how to organize and prioritize the data returned by a query using the ORDER BY clause. Placed at the end of a SELECT statement, this clause lets you sort your results by one or multiple columns, either in ascending or descending order, enabling more meaningful and easily interpretable data output.

In this section, we will learn how to filter returned data using the SELECT statement's WHERE clause. We will learn how to test for equality, inequality, more and less significant than value ranges, and NULL values.

In this section, we’ll explore how to refine your search conditions by combining WHERE clauses with the AND and OR operators. We’ll also cover how the NOT operator can be used to exclude certain results.

In this section, we will learn what the SQL aggregate functions are and how to use them to summarize table data.

Checking for NO Value

Solution