How Do Different Databases Handle Delimited Identifiers in SQL Queries?

Delimited Identifiers: Variations Across Databases

Databases use a variety of techniques to quote table names, known as delimited identifiers. This is necessary to allow identifiers to include characters that would otherwise be interpreted as part of the query.

Most SQL databases use double-quotes for delimited identifiers:

SELECT * FROM "my table";

However, some databases use different characters.

• MySQL uses back-quotes by default:

  SELECT * FROM `my table`;

• Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase use brackets by default:

  SELECT * FROM [my table];

• InterBase and Firebird require setting the SQL dialect to 3 to support delimited identifiers.

This table summarizes the default delimiter characters used by various databases:

Database	Default Delimiter
Standard SQL	Double-quotes
MySQL	Back-quotes
Microsoft SQL Server	Brackets
Sybase	Brackets
InterBase	None (requires setting dialect to 3)
Firebird	None (requires setting dialect to 3)

By understanding these differences, you can ensure that your SQL queries will work correctly across different database platforms.

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