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A common table expression (CTE) can be thought of as a temporary result set that is defined within the execution scope of a single SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or CREATE VIEW statement. A CTE is similar to a derived table in that it is not stored as an object and lasts only for the duration of the query. Unlike a derived table, a CTE can be self-referencing and can be referenced multiple times in the same query.

A CTE can be used to:

• Create a recursive query. 
• Substitute for a view when the general use of a view is not required; that is, you do not have to store the definition in metadata.
• Enable grouping by a column that is derived from a scalar subselect, or a function that is either not deterministic or has external access.
• Reference the resulting table multiple times in the same statement.

The basic syntax structure for a CTE is:

       WITH expression_name [ ( column_name [,...n] ) ]

       AS

       ( CTE_query_definition )

The list of column names is optional only if distinct names for all resulting columns are supplied in the query definition.

The statement to run the CTE is:

SELECT <column_list>

FROM expression_name

EG.

WITH CTE_ProductAndCategoryNamesOverTenDollars (ProductName, CategoryName, UnitPrice) AS
(
   SELECT
      p.ProductName,
      c.CategoryName,
      p.UnitPrice
   FROM Products p
      INNER JOIN Categories c ON
         c.CategoryID = p.CategoryID
   WHERE p.UnitPrice > 10.0
)

SELECT *
FROM CTE_ProductAndCategoryNamesOverTenDollars
ORDER BY CategoryName ASC, UnitPrice ASC, ProductName ASC