🔃 ORDER BY Clause

Last Updated: January 2026

  • ORDER BY sorts rows, not columns
  • Sorting can be ascending or descending
  • It is applied after data is retrieved

Hinglish Tip 🗣: ORDER BY output ko sequence me arrange karta hai — jaise ranking list.

🧾 Basic Syntax of ORDER BY

SELECT column_name
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name;

By default, sorting is ascending.

⬆️ Ascending Order (ASC)

SELECT name, marks
FROM students
ORDER BY marks ASC;
  • Smallest value appears first
  • ASC is optional (default)

⬇️ Descending Order (DESC)

SELECT name, marks
FROM students
ORDER BY marks DESC;
  • Largest value appears first

🔢 Ordering by Multiple Columns

Sorting happens left to right.

SELECT department, marks
FROM students
ORDER BY department ASC, marks DESC;
  • First sorted by department
  • Within each department, sorted by marks

🔁 ORDER BY Using Column Position

SELECT name, marks, age
FROM students
ORDER BY 2 DESC;
  • 2 refers to the second column (marks)
  • Use carefully (can reduce readability)
  • Not recommended

🧮 ORDER BY with Expressions

SELECT name, salary, salary * 12 AS annual_salary
FROM employees
ORDER BY annual_salary DESC;
  • Sorting is based on the calculated value.
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