Chapter 5. Sorting Retrieved Data
In this chapter, you will learn how to use the SELECT
statement’s ORDER BY
clause to sort retrieved data as needed.
Sorting Data
As you learned in the previous chapter, the following SQL statement returns a single column from a database table. But look at the output. The data appears to be displayed in no particular order at all.
• Input
SELECT prod_name FROM products;
• Output
+----------------+ | prod_name | +----------------+ | .5 ton anvil | | 1 ton anvil | | 2 ton anvil | | Oil can | | Fuses | | Sling | | TNT (1 stick) | | TNT (5 sticks) | | Bird seed | | Carrots | | Safe | | Detonator | | JetPack 1000 | | JetPack 2000 | +----------------+
Actually, the retrieved data is not displayed in a mere random order. If ...
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