In SQL, you can limit and paginate query results using the LIMIT and OFFSET clauses. These clauses are commonly used to retrieve a specific subset of rows from a result set. Here, I'll explain how to use LIMIT and OFFSET with different real-time examples and variations.

1. Basic LIMIT Clause:

• Example: Retrieve the first 10 products from a Products table.

• SQL Query:

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  SELECT * FROM Products LIMIT 10;
  

• Explanation: This query returns the first 10 rows from the Products table.

2. Limit with OFFSET:

• Example: Retrieve products 11 to 20 from the Products table.

• SQL Query:

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  SELECT * FROM Products LIMIT 10 OFFSET 10;
  

• Explanation: LIMIT 10 restricts the result to 10 rows, and OFFSET 10 skips the first 10 rows, effectively retrieving rows 11 to 20.

3. LIMIT with Ordering:

• Example: Retrieve the top 5 highest-priced products from the Products table.

• SQL Query:

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  SELECT * FROM Products ORDER BY price DESC LIMIT 5;
  
  

• Explanation: This query sorts products by price in descending order and returns the top 5, giving you the highest-priced products.

4. Dynamic Pagination:

• Example: Implement dynamic pagination to retrieve a specific page of products with 10 products per page.

• SQL Query (with page number as a variable):

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  DECLARE @PageNumber INT = 3;
  DECLARE @PageSize INT = 10;
  
  SELECT * FROM Products
  ORDER BY product_id
  OFFSET (@PageNumber - 1) * @PageSize ROWS
  FETCH NEXT @PageSize ROWS ONLY;
  
  

• Explanation: This query calculates the OFFSET based on the desired page number and page size, allowing you to retrieve different pages of results.

5. LIMIT with Subqueries:

• Example: Retrieve the first 3 orders for each customer.

• SQL Query:

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  SELECT customer_id, order_id, order_date
  FROM (
      SELECT customer_id, order_id, order_date,
          ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY customer_id ORDER BY order_date) AS row_num
      FROM Orders
  ) AS ranked_orders
  WHERE row_num <= 3;