ORDER BY — Sorting Results

The ORDER BY clause lets you sort the results of your SQL query.
You can sort data by one or more columns, in ascending or descending order.

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Syntax

SELECT column1, column2 FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1 [ASC|DESC];

• ASC - means ascending order (default)
• DESC - means descending order

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Example 1: Sort by Age (Ascending)

SELECT name, age FROM employees
ORDER BY age;

This sorts the employee list from youngest to oldest.

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Example 2: Sort by Name (Descending)

SELECT name FROM employees
ORDER BY name DESC;

This sorts names from Z to A.

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Example 3: Sort by Department, then Name

SELECT name, department FROM employees
ORDER BY department, name;

This sorts first by department, and then by name within each department.

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Tip

You can sort by a column that’s not shown in your SELECT list.

SELECT name FROM employees
ORDER BY age;

This still works — it sorts by age but only displays name.

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The ORDER BY clause helps you make results easier to understand by organizing them in a meaningful way.