Re: count(*) vs count(id)

On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 6:35 PM Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:

Matt Zagrabelny <mzagrabe@d.umn.edu> writes:
> On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 5:57 PM Rob Sargent <robjsargent@gmail.com> wrote:
>> You got one null from count(*) likely.

> What is count(*) counting then? I thought it was rows.

Yeah, but count(id) only counts rows where id isn't null.

I guess I'm still not understanding it...

I don't have any rows where id is null:

$ select count(*) from call_records where id is null;
 count
═══════
     0
(1 row)

Time: 0.834 ms
$

select count(id) from call_records where id is null;
 count
═══════
     0
(1 row)

Time: 0.673 ms

Which field is count(*) counting if it is counting nulls?