# CONCAT

Concatenates all of the values in its argument list.

If any of the arguments is `NULL`, the result is `NULL`. When `PIPES_AS_CONCAT` flag is on, the symbol || can be used as CONCAT as well.

> **📝 Note**: This function is not to be confused with GROUP\_CONCAT, which is an aggregate function returning a concatenation of values passed in during aggregation.

## Syntax

```sql
CONCAT(expression, [ expression, [expression ...]])
expression || expression || expression ... || expression

```

## Arguments

* expression: any set of expressions. This may be a column name, the result of another function, or a math operation.

## Return Type

The concatenated string.

## Remarks

* The symbol `||` can take two different roles. If the `sql_mode` session variable is set as `PIPES_AS_CONCAT`, then `||` is an alias for the CONCAT function else, it is an alias for logical `OR`.
* The value of the `sql_mode` variable is checked each time `||` symbol is encountered. The role of the symbol changes accordingly.
* When used as concatenation operator, `||` symbol has a higher precedence than the logical `OR`.

## Examples

```sql
SELECT CONCAT('1', '2', '3');

```

```output

+-----------------------+
| CONCAT('1', '2', '3') |
+-----------------------+
| 123                   |
+-----------------------+

```

```sql
SELECT CONCAT('1', ' ', '2', ' ', '3');

```

```output

+---------------------------------+
| CONCAT('1', ' ', '2', ' ', '3') |
+---------------------------------+
| 1 2 3                           |
+---------------------------------+
```

```sql
SELECT CONCAT(first_name, " ", last_name) FROM bffs;

```

```output

+------------------------------------+
| CONCAT(first_name, " ", last_name) |
+------------------------------------+
| Cecelia Cruz                       |
| Ari Floo                           |
| Skylar Rhodes                      |
+------------------------------------+
```

Using pipes (||) for concatenation:

```sql
SET @@sql_mode = PIPES_AS_CONCAT;

SELECT 'a' || 'b' || 'c';

```

```output

+-------------------+
| 'a' || 'b' || 'c' |
+-------------------+
| abc               |
+-------------------+

```

```sql
SELECT first_name || " " || last_name FROM bffs;

```

```output

+--------------------------------+
| first_name || " " || last_name |
+--------------------------------+
| Cecelia Cruz                   |
| Ari Floo                       |
| Skylar Rhodes                  |
+--------------------------------+
```

```sql
SELECT '1 ' || CONCAT('2 ', '3');

```

```output

+---------------------------+
| '1 ' || CONCAT('2 ', '3') |
+---------------------------+
| 1 2 3                     |
+---------------------------+
```

## Related Topics

* [CONCAT\_WS](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/string-functions/concat-ws.md)

***

Modified at: January 17, 2025

Source: [/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/string-functions/concat/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/string-functions/concat/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)