Selecting Columns

Instead of selecting all columns with `*`, you can pick specific columns by listing their names separated by commas:

SELECT name, department FROM employees

This returns only the `name` and `department` columns. Selecting specific columns is good practice because:

• It makes your query's intent clear • It can be faster when tables have many columns • It returns only the data you actually need

You can list columns in any order — the result will follow the order you specify.