Can you explain what the SELECT operator in SQL is and why it is used?

The SELECT operator in SQL is used to fetch data from one or more database tables. It allows retrieving the necessary columns and rows that meet specified conditions.

Example of a simple query:

SELECT name, age FROM users WHERE age > 18;

This query will return the names and ages of all users over 18 years old.

SELECT is the primary tool for reading data, supporting filtering (WHERE), sorting (ORDER BY), grouping (GROUP BY), and joining tables (JOIN).