Question

Is there a better way to write this SQL query?

SELECT *,  (SELECT TOP 1 columnB FROM mytable WHERE mytable.columnC = T1.columnC ORDER BY columnD) as firstRecordOfColumnB
FROM
    (SELECT * FROM mytable WHERE columnA = 'apple') as T1

Notice that columnC is not the primary key.

Answer 1

If the keyColumns is really a key column (i.e. unique), than the query can definitly be written more elegantly and efficiently…

SELECT
  *, columnB
FROM
  mytable
WHERE
  columnA = 'apple'