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powerbidev123's avatar
powerbidev123
Icon for Solution Sage rankSolution Sage
1 month ago
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Need SQl help

Hi All   I need help with a SQL problem as desc below   Find the second highest salary from an Employee table without using LIMIT, TOP, or window functions.
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  • ShivekMaharaj's avatar
    ShivekMaharaj
    1 month ago

    Hi powerbidev123​ ,

    You can use a subquery to find the maximum salary that is lower than the overall maximum salary:

    SELECT MAX(salary) AS second_highest_salary FROM Employee WHERE salary < (     SELECT MAX(salary)     FROM Employee );

    The inner query finds the highest salary. The outer query then finds the highest salary below that value, which gives you the second-highest distinct salary.

    This also handles duplicate highest salaries correctly.

    AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.

ShivekMaharaj's avatar
ShivekMaharaj
Icon for Memorable Member rankMemorable Member
1 month ago

Hi powerbidev123​ ,

You can use a subquery to find the maximum salary that is lower than the overall maximum salary:

SELECT MAX(salary) AS second_highest_salary FROM Employee WHERE salary < (     SELECT MAX(salary)     FROM Employee );

The inner query finds the highest salary. The outer query then finds the highest salary below that value, which gives you the second-highest distinct salary.

This also handles duplicate highest salaries correctly.

AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.