SQL ORDER BY Clause

• Whenever we want to sort the records based on the columns stored in the tables of the SQL database, then we consider using the ORDER BY clause in SQL.
• The ORDER BY clause in SQL will help us to sort the records based on the specific column of a table. This means that all the values stored in the column on which we are applying ORDER BY clause will be sorted, and the corresponding column values will be displayed in the sequence in which we have obtained the values in the earlier step.
• Using the ORDER BY clause, we can sort the records in ascending or descending order as per our requirement. The records will be sorted in ascending order whenever the ASC keyword is used with ORDER by clause. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.
• If no keyword is specified after the column based on which we have to sort the records, in that case, the sorting will be done by default in the ascending order.

Before writing the queries for sorting the records, let us understand the syntax.

Syntax to sort the records in ascending order:

SELECT ColumnName1,...,ColumnNameN FROM TableName  ORDER BY ColumnName ASC;  

Syntax to sort the records in descending order:

SELECT ColumnName1,...,ColumnNameN FROM TableName  ORDER BY ColumnNameDESC;  

Syntax to sort the records in ascending order without using ASC keyword:

SELECT ColumnName1,...,ColumnNameN FROM TableName  ORDER BY ColumnName;  

Let us explore more on this topic with the help of examples. We will use the MySQL database for writing the queries in examples.

Consider we have customers table with the following records:

Example 1:

Write a query to sort the records in the ascending order of the customer names stored in the customers table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM customers ORDER BY Name ASC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Name' to sort the records. ASC keyword will sort the records in ascending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the ascending order of the customer's name.

Example 2:

Write a query to sort the records in the ascending order of the addresses stored in the customers table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM customers ORDER BY Address;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied to the 'Address' column to sort the records. No keyword is used after the ORDER BY clause. Hence, the records, by default, will be sorted in ascending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the ascending order of the customer's address.

Example 3:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the customer salary stored in the customers table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM customers ORDER BY Salary DESC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column ?Salary? to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's salary.

Example 4:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the customer age stored in the customers table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM customers ORDER BY Age DESC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Age' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's age.

Consider we have another table named agents with the following records:

Example 1:

Write a query to sort the records in the ascending order of the agent names stored in the agents table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM agents ORDER BY Name ASC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Name' to sort the records. ASC keyword will sort the records in ascending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the ascending order of the agent's name.

Example 2:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the work area stored in the agents table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM agents ORDER BY WorkArea DESC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'WorkArea' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's work area.

Example 3:

Write a query to sort the records in the ascending order of the agent salary stored in the agents table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM agents ORDER BY Salary;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Salary' to sort the records. No keyword is used after the ORDER BY clause. Hence, the records, by default, will be sorted in ascending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the ascending order of the customer's salary.

Example 4:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the agent salary stored in the agents table.

Query:

mysql> SELECT *FROM agents ORDER BY Salary DESC;

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Salary' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's address.