The Language of SQL, Second Edition

5. Sorting Data

Keywords Introduced

ORDER BY  •  ASC  •  DESC

The ability to present data in a sorted order is often essential to the task at hand. For example, if an analyst is shown a large list of customers in a random order, they’d probably find it difficult to locate one particular customer. However, if the same list is sorted alphabetically, the desired customer can quickly be located.

The idea of sorting data applies to many situations, even when the data isn’t alphabetic in nature. For example, orders can be sorted by order date, allowing one to rapidly find an order taken at a particular date and time. Alternatively, orders can be sorted by the order amount, allowing orders to be viewed from the smallest to largest. No matter what particular ...