Find Followers Count - Problem

You are given a Followers table that contains information about user-follower relationships in a social media app.

Table: Followers

  • user_id (int): The ID of the user being followed
  • follower_id (int): The ID of the user who is following
  • The combination (user_id, follower_id) is the primary key

Write a SQL solution to find the number of followers for each user. Return the result table ordered by user_id in ascending order.

Table Schema

Followers
Column Name Type Description
user_id PK int ID of the user being followed
follower_id PK int ID of the user who is following
Primary Key: (user_id, follower_id)
Note: Each row represents a follower relationship where follower_id follows user_id

Input & Output

Example 1 — Multiple Users with Followers
Input Table:
user_id follower_id
1 3
2 3
2 1
Output:
user_id followers_count
1 1
2 2
💡 Note:

User 1 has 1 follower (user 3). User 2 has 2 followers (users 3 and 1). Results are ordered by user_id ascending.

Example 2 — Single User Multiple Followers
Input Table:
user_id follower_id
1 2
1 3
1 4
Output:
user_id followers_count
1 3
💡 Note:

User 1 has 3 followers (users 2, 3, and 4). The GROUP BY aggregates all followers for user 1.

Example 3 — Each User One Follower
Input Table:
user_id follower_id
1 2
3 4
Output:
user_id followers_count
1 1
3 1
💡 Note:

User 1 has 1 follower (user 2) and user 3 has 1 follower (user 4). Results ordered by user_id.

Constraints

  • 1 ≤ user_id, follower_id ≤ 1000
  • user_id != follower_id (users cannot follow themselves)

Visualization

Tap to expand
Find Followers Count ProblemInput: Followers Tableuser_idfollower_id132321GROUP BYCOUNTOutput: Follower Countsuser_idfollowers_count1122User 1: 1 follower (user 3)User 2: 2 followers (users 3, 1)
Understanding the Visualization
1
Input
Followers table with user-follower pairs
2
Group & Count
GROUP BY user_id and COUNT followers
3
Output
User IDs with their follower counts
Key Takeaway
🎯 Key Insight: Use GROUP BY with COUNT() to aggregate data and calculate totals per group
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