A view is, in essence, a virtual table which is based on SQL SELECT query. It does not physically exist. A view is an object that can derive data from one or more tables. For Eg Suppose there is a Users Table named customer which has some 100 columns and your wish to create a view with just the userName column
CREATE VIEW view_UserNames AS
SELECT UserName
FROM customer
Now rather than using the customer table you can use the view 'view_UserNames' in you code.