Let's create a new table books, and insert a few rows of records in it.
Notice that we are allowed to insert a book with exact same name (Basics of SQL) twice, in the above set of statements. Sometimes, this may not be something that's acceptable in a real world database scenario.
To ensure uniqueness in records under a column, SQL provides another constraint called UNIQUE. Look at the statement below
We add UNIQUE next to the column name and data type, in the list of columns in CREATE TABLE statement. This makes sure that no record is allowed which has the exact same value in the same column as an existing record. Try the set of statements below:
Notice the error that shows up. It expresses that the UNIQUE constraint failed. Look at the table books in the newly created tab. You'll see that the first two INSERT statements are successful, hence the two records in books. It is the last statement, that violates the UNIQUE constraint on name, and throws an error.