sub make_select_query {
    my ($table, $select_fields, $conditions) = @_;

    my $query = "SELECT ";

    if ( defined $select_fields ) {
        if ( ref($select_array) eq "ARRAY" ) {
            $query .= join ",", @$select_array;
        }
        else {
            $query .= $select_fields;
        }
    }
    else {
        $query .= "\*";
    }

    $query .= " FROM " . $table;

    # only put the where and conditions in the query string
    # if conditions are present
    if (keys %$conditions) {
        $query .=  " WHERE ";

        foreach my $key (keys %$conditions) {
            push @conds, $key . "=\'" . $conditions->{$key} . "\'";
        }
    }
    $query .= join " and ", @conds;

    return $query;
}