Q:

SQL - How to use SUM and MAX in same query?

I am working with a MySQL database version 5.0.41 (and PHP 5.2.6, though that may not be relevant to this question).
I have a table called votes with the following fields: id, item_id, vote_value.
Each time a user on the site submits a positive vote for an item, a new row is created with the corresponding item_id and a positive number (i.e. 1). When the vote is negative, a row is created with the corresponding item_id and a negative number (i.e. -1).
I'd like to select, with one query (if possible), the item_id that has the most votes.
To do this, I first need to sum up all the votes for each individual item_id (to get a number like 38 or -14) and then select the maximum for that number.
I am not sure how to write the query for that.
Could you help?
Thanks!

A:

SELECT item_id, SUM(vote_value) AS sum
FROM votes
GROUP BY item_id
ORDER BY sum DESC
LIMIT 1

