Why is SELECT * considered harmful?

Question

Why is SELECT * bad practice? Wouldn\'t it mean less code to change if you added a new column you wanted?

I understand that SELECT COUNT(*)

Answer 1

If you name the columns in a SELECT statement, they will be returned in the order specified, and may thus safely be referenced by numerical index. If you use "SELECT *", you may end up receiving the columns in arbitrary sequence, and thus can only safely use the columns by name. Unless you know in advance what you'll be wanting to do with any new column that gets added to the database, the most probable correct action is to ignore it. If you're going to be ignoring any new columns that get added to the database, there is no benefit whatsoever to retrieving them.