How to tally column values of multiple rows with pure mysql?

Question

hypothetic tables

user_id | hits

Can I get MySQL to return the total hits of a Select query? I know i could add them together with php or similar, just wondering if there is a pure MySQL way?

Answer 1

 Total hits per user

 SELECT userId, Sum(Hits)
 FROM Table
 GROUP by userId

 OR 

 Total hits

 SELECT Sum(Hits)
 FROM Table

Answer 2

select sum(hits) from ...

Answer 3

Depending on the specific SQL query you're using you could either SUM a column or potentially use the 'WITH ROLLUP' GROUP modifier if you require a query-wide total.