SQL ORDER BY Keyword

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SQL ORDER BY  Keyword
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The SQL ORDER BY Keyword
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set in ascending or descending order.

The ORDER BY keyword sorts the records in ascending order by default. To sort the records in descending order, use the DESC keyword.

ORDER BY Syntax
SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1, column2, ... ASC|DESC;
Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
1

Alfreds Futterkiste Maria Anders Obere Str. 57 Berlin 12209 Germany
2 Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados Ana Trujillo Avda. de la Constitución 2222 México D.F. 05021 Mexico
3 Antonio Moreno Taquería Antonio Moreno Mataderos 2312 México D.F. 05023 Mexico
4

Around the Horn Thomas Hardy 120 Hanover Sq. London WA1 1DP UK
5 Berglunds snabbköp Christina Berglund Berguvsvägen 8 Luleå S-958 22 Sweden
ORDER BY Example
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted by the "Country" column:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country;
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ORDER BY DESC Example
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted DESCENDING by the "Country" column:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country DESC;
»
ORDER BY Several Columns Example
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted by the "Country" and the "CustomerName" column:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country, CustomerName;
»
ORDER BY Several Columns Example 2
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted ascending by the "Country" and descending by the "CustomerName" column:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country ASC, CustomerName DESC;
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