# COUNT DISTINCT

## Syntax

```sql
COUNT(DISTINCT expr,[expr...])
```

## Description

Returns a count of the number of different non-NULL values.

COUNT(DISTINCT) returns 0 if there were no matching rows.

## Examples

```sql
CREATE TABLE student (name CHAR(10), test CHAR(10), score TINYINT); 

INSERT INTO student VALUES 
  ('Chun', 'SQL', 75), ('Chun', 'Tuning', 73), 
  ('Esben', 'SQL', 43), ('Esben', 'Tuning', 31), 
  ('Kaolin', 'SQL', 56), ('Kaolin', 'Tuning', 88), 
  ('Tatiana', 'SQL', 87), ('Tatiana', 'Tuning', 83);

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM student;
+----------+
| COUNT(*) |
+----------+
|        8 |
+----------+

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT (name)) FROM student;
+------------------------+
| COUNT(DISTINCT (name)) |
+------------------------+
|                      4 |
+------------------------+
```

## See Also

* [SELECT](/docs/server/reference/sql-statements/data-manipulation/selecting-data/select.md)
* [COUNT](/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/aggregate-functions/count.md)

<sub>*This page is licensed: GPLv2, originally from*</sub> [<sub>*fill\_help\_tables.sql*</sub>](https://github.com/MariaDB/server/blob/main/scripts/fill_help_tables.sql)

{% @marketo/form formId="4316" %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/aggregate-functions/count-distinct.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
