How does the use of the SELECT operator differ from the WHERE condition in SQL queries?

The SQL SELECT statement is used to choose columns (fields) from a table, meaning it determines what data will be returned as a result of the query.

The WHERE clause is used to filter rows (records) in the table based on a specified criterion.

Example:

SELECT name, age FROM users WHERE age > 18;

• SELECT name, age — selects the name and age columns.
• WHERE age > 18 — selects only those rows where the age is greater than 18.

Thus, SELECT defines what exactly to retrieve, and WHERE specifies which records to select from the table.

In C# with LINQ, this is similar:

var result = users.Where(u => u.Age > 18).Select(u => new { u.Name, u.Age });