SQL ORDER BY Clause With Example

SQL ORDER BY Clause

• SELECT returns records in no particular order.
• To ensure a specific order use the ORDER BY clause.
• ORDER BY allows sorting by one or more columns.
• Records can be returned in ascending or descending order.

The SQL ORDER BY syntax

The general syntax is:

1. SELECT column-names FROM table-name WHERE condition ORDER BY column-names

 or

1.  SELECT column-names1, column-name2, ......... FROM table-name WHERE condition ORDER BY column-names

SQL ORDER BY Examples 

1) for single column

mysql> select  name from person where age>20 order by name;
+-----------------+
| name            |
+-----------------+
| chayan das      |
| monojit         |
| sajal           |
| sajal           |
| shantanu biswas |
| sourav biswas   |
| subham ball     |
| sudip saha      |
+-----------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)

2) for multiple Column

mysql> select  name,age from person where age>20 order by age;
+-----------------+------+
| name            | age  |
+-----------------+------+
| sajal           |   21 |
| sajal           |   21 |
| monojit         |   22 |
| sourav biswas   |   23 |
| chayan das      |   24 |
| subham ball     |   25 |
| shantanu biswas |   26 |
| sudip saha      |   26 |
+-----------------+------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)