What does the WHERE clause do in SQL?

The WHERE clause in SQL is essential for filtering records based on specified conditions, allowing users to retrieve only the data that meets specific criteria. This makes it a powerful tool for narrowing down the results of queries to focus on relevant data. For instance, if you're looking for customers from a particular city, you can use a WHERE clause to select only those records, enhancing both performance and relevance while querying the database.

The other functions listed in the options serve different purposes in SQL. Sorting records in ascending order pertains to the ORDER BY clause, which arranges the result set according to the specified column or columns. Limiting the number of records returned is accomplished by the LIMIT clause, which restricts the output to a specified number of rows. Lastly, combining records from different tables is typically done using JOIN operations, which allow for relational data to be linked together based on common fields. Understanding the distinct roles of these components is crucial for effective SQL querying.