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List Pro accounts with ticket counts, zeros included

Practice: Giving the right context. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

Write one SQL query listing every account on the 'Pro' plan with its number of support tickets opened in Q3 2026 (July 1 to September 30), and accounts with zero tickets must still appear with 0. Columns: account name and ticket_count, highest count first. One code block, at most 12 lines, then under 25 words outside the code.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Not saying zeros matter. The AI writes an inner join, so quiet accounts silently disappear. Try: Add: "Accounts with zero tickets must appear with 0."
  • Missing the WHERE trap. Even with a LEFT JOIN, a date filter in WHERE drops the zero-ticket accounts again. Try: Add: "Put the date filter in the ON clause, not WHERE."
  • Counting rows, not tickets. COUNT(*) counts the empty joined row, so a quiet account shows 1. Try: Add: "Use COUNT(t.id), highest count first."
  • Getting a menu of options. The AI likes to offer two or three versions of the query, so you're left to pick and test them yourself. Try: Add: "Give one query only, in one code block, no alternatives."
  • Letting the code sprawl. The AI pads the query with extras nobody asked for, so it grows long and harder to check. Try: Add: "At most 12 lines of code."
  • Getting a tutorial. By default the AI explains every part of the code at length, which you then have to scroll past. Try: Add: "After the code, one line under 15 words. Nothing else."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Says zero-ticket accounts must show
  • Places the date filter
  • Sets the quarter
  • Sets the sort
  • Asks for one answer only

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