SQL ORDER BY

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result.

Syntax

SELECT columnName(s) FROM tableName ORDER BY columnName [ASC|DESC];

Sort the Rows

The ORDER BY clause is used to sort the rows.

The "Books" table:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
الدورة الدموية	إبن النفيس	دار العلم	1650
Java 2	L. Johnston	Fast Press	2002
Linux and Unix	J. Sam	Fast Press	2004
Operating Systems	M. Stone	Coriolis	2005
Web Programming	K. Yariv	East Edition	2005
XML Language	M. Salim	Knowledge Press	2000

Example

To display the books ordered by their years of publication:

SELECT * FROM Books ORDER BY Year;

The result is:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
الدورة الدموية	إبن النفيس	دار العلم	1650
XML Language	M. Salim	Knowledge Press	2000
Java 2	L. Johnston	Fast Press	2002
Linux and Unix	J. Sam	Fast Press	2004
Operating Systems	M. Stone	Coriolis	2005
Web Programming	K. Yariv	East Edition	2005

Example

To display the books in numerical order of their years of publication AND alphabetical order of their authors:

SELECT * FROM Books ORDER BY Year, Author;

The result is:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
الدورة الدموية	إبن النفيس	دار العلم	1650
XML Language	M. Salim	Knowledge Press	2000
Java 2	L. Johnston	Fast Press	2002
Linux and Unix	J. Sam	Fast Press	2004
Web Programming	K. Yariv	East Edition	2005
Operating Systems	M. Stone	Coriolis	2005

Example

To display the books in reverse numerical order of their years of publication:

SELECT * FROM Books ORDER BY Year DESC;

The result is:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
Operating Systems	M. Stone	Coriolis	2005
Web Programming	K. Yariv	East Edition	2005
Linux and Unix	J. Sam	Fast Press	2004
Java 2	L. Johnston	Fast Press	2002
XML Language	M. Salim	Knowledge Press	2000
الدورة الدموية	إبن النفيس	دار العلم	1650

Example

To display the books in reverse numerical order of their years of publication AND alphabetical order of their authors:

SELECT * FROM Books ORDER BY Year DESC, Author ASC;

The result is:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
Web Programming	K. Yariv	East Edition	2005
Operating Systems	M. Stone	Coriolis	2005
Linux and Unix	J. Sam	Fast Press	2004
Java 2	L. Johnston	Fast Press	2002
XML Language	M. Salim	Knowledge Press	2000
الدورة الدموية	إبن النفيس	دار العلم	1650

Test your SQL Skills

To test your SQL skills click here.