How can we specify the number of records to be returned in MySQL output?

We can specify the number of records to be returned in output by adding a LIMIT clause in MySQL query. LIMIT clause restricts the number of rows to be returned. Consider the following example −

mysql> Select * from ratelist ORDER BY Price;
+----+------+-------+
| Sr | Item | Price |
+----+------+-------+
|  5 | T    |   250 |
|  1 | A    |   502 |
|  2 | B    |   630 |
|  4 | h    |   850 |
|  3 | C    |  1005 |
+----+------+-------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

The query above shows that the table rate list is having a total of 5 rows. Now if we want to get only the top 3 rows in output then we can use LIMIT clause as follows −

mysql> Select * from ratelist ORDER BY Price LIMIT 3;
+----+------+-------+
| Sr | Item | Price |
+----+------+-------+
|  5 | T    |   250 |
|  1 | A    |   502 |
|  2 | B    |   630 |
+----+------+-------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)