What is the purpose of the DISTINCT keyword in SQL?

Short answer: The DISTINCT keyword is used to return only unique values in the result set, removing any duplicate rows.

Example code

SELECT DISTINCT Country FROM Customers; This will return a list of unique countries from the Customers table.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest’s SQL Server database stores customers, products, and orders. Good indexes and clear foreign keys keep checkout queries fast and safe.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.