What is the purpose of the WHERE clause in a SQL statement?

The WHERE clause in a SQL statement is used to filter data based on specified conditions, allowing for the selection of only those records that meet certain criteria. When you use a WHERE clause, you can narrow down the results of a query by comparing values in the database. This comparison can involve various operators such as equal to, greater than, less than, and others. For instance, if you have a table of employees and you want to find only those who work in a specific department, you would use the WHERE clause to filter your query results based on that department's identifier.

This capability to apply conditions makes the WHERE clause essential for retrieving meaningful data from a database, as it allows users to focus on particular subsets of data that are relevant to their needs. It enables more efficient data handling and analysis by ensuring that only the necessary records are returned in a query's output.