What is ORDER BY?
ORDER BY sorts your results. Like organizing books on a shelf - alphabetically, by size, or by date.
How ORDER BY Works
Step-by-step:
- SELECT * FROM students - Get all rows
- ORDER BY age - Sort by age column
- Result - Rows returned from smallest to largest age
Basic Syntax
SELECT columns FROM table ORDER BY column;ASC vs DESC
- ASC (Ascending) - Default: 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C
- DESC (Descending) - Reverse: 3, 2, 1 or C, B, A
-- Youngest first (default)
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age;
-- Oldest first
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age DESC;
-- A to Z
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY name;
-- Z to A
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY name DESC;Sort by Multiple Columns
-- Sort by grade, then by name within each grade
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY grade, name;
-- Sort by grade ASC, then age DESC
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY grade ASC, age DESC;ORDER BY with WHERE
SELECT * FROM students
WHERE age > 20
ORDER BY name;Try ORDER BY Below
Use the playground to practice sorting. Try:
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age;SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY name DESC;
What Comes Next
Next: Learn aggregate functions (COUNT, SUM, AVG).
Try ORDER BY
Sort your results. Try: SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age DESC;
Source Table: students
| id | name | age | grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice | 20 | A |
| 2 | Bob | 22 | B |
| 3 | Charlie | 21 | A |
| 4 | David | 23 | B |
4 rows
SQL Editor
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