15.7. Select statements

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The [BNF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backus%E2%80%93Naur_Form) for `SELECT` statements in HQL is:

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<pre class="prettyprint highlight">`select_statement :: =
    [select_clause]
    from_clause
    [where_clause]
    [groupby_clause]
    [having_clause]
    [orderby_clause]`</pre>
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The simplest possible HQL `SELECT` statement is of the form:

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<pre class="prettyprint highlight">`List&lt;Person&gt; persons = session.createQuery(
    "from Person" )
.list();`</pre>
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The select statement in JPQL is exactly the same as for HQL except that JPQL requires a `select_clause`, whereas HQL does not.

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<pre class="prettyprint highlight">`List&lt;Person&gt; persons = entityManager.createQuery(
    "select p " +
    "from Person p", Person.class )
.getResultList();`</pre>
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Even though HQL does not require the presence of a `select_clause`, it is generally good practice to include one.
For simple queries the intent is clear and so the intended result of the `select_clause` is east to infer.
But on more complex queries that is not always the case.

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It is usually better to explicitly specify intent.
Hibernate does not actually enforce that a `select_clause` be present even when parsing JPQL queries, however applications interested in JPA portability should take heed of this.

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