>>The second example shows how to assign a scalar value from a query, similar to what SqlCommand.ExecuteScalar() does in .NET.
>
>Oh, so then instead of this:
>
>

>[SELECT [@var1 = CompanyName] FROM Customers WHERE CustomerID = 'ALFKA']
>

>
>it's doing something like this:
>
>

>[SELECT @var1 = [CompanyName FROM Customers WHERE CustomerID = 'ALFKA']]
>

>
>Correct?

Conceptually, yes. Although I don't think the grouping would make a difference to the T-SQL engine in that particular example.

And yes, SELECT does not have to hit a table in SQL. It is the catch-all command.