Beginner

210. ABS Function

Learn how to return the absolute value of a number.

📘 Lesson 210 of 728 ⏱ 8 min 🎯 Beginner

The ABS function returns the absolute value of a numeric expression, converting a negative value to its positive magnitude while leaving positive values unchanged.

Absolute values are useful when the direction of a difference does not matter and only the size of the difference is important.

Calculate the absolute difference between expected and actual sales.

SQL 
SELECT
    EmployeeName,
    ABS(TargetSales - ActualSales) AS SalesVariance
FROM SalesPerformance;

ABS is useful for variance analysis, error measurement, financial comparisons, performance analysis, and reconciliation.

  • ABS returns a non-negative value.
  • Negative values become positive.
  • Positive values remain unchanged.
  • Zero remains zero.
  • It is useful for variance analysis.
What does ABS do?

ABS returns the absolute value of a numeric expression.

Where is ABS useful?

ABS is useful when measuring the magnitude of differences without considering whether the difference is positive or negative.

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