Basic Sorting - Single Column

basic

HR needs employee list sorted by salary (highest paid first) for compensation review

-- Sort by salary (descending - highest first)

SELECT employee_id, first_name, last_name, salary, department

FROM employees

ORDER BY salary DESC;

-- Sort by name (ascending - alphabetical)

SELECT employee_id, first_name, last_name, department

FROM employees

ORDER BY last_name ASC; -- ASC is optional (default)

-- Salary descending:

employee_id | first_name | last_name | salary | department

5 | Alice | Johnson | 95000 | Engineering

12 | Bob | Smith | 87000 | Sales

23 | Carol | Davis | 75000 | Marketing

-- Name ascending:

employee_id | first_name | last_name | department

23 | Carol | Davis | Marketing

5 | Alice | Johnson | Engineering

12 | Bob | Smith | Sales

ORDER BY sorts results. DESC = descending (high to low), ASC = ascending (low to high, default). Essential for ranked lists, leaderboards, and organized reports.

All

Multi-Column Sorting with Priority

intermediate

Product catalog needs sorting: first by category, then by price within each category

SELECT product_name, category, price, rating

FROM products

ORDER BY category ASC, price DESC;

-- Sort priority:

-- 1. Category (A-Z)

-- 2. Within each category, price (high to low)

product_name | category | price | rating

Laptop Pro | Electronics | 1299.99 | 4.8

Tablet | Electronics | 599.99 | 4.5

Mouse | Electronics | 29.99 | 4.2

Sofa | Furniture | 899.99 | 4.7

Chair | Furniture | 199.99 | 4.3

Multiple columns create sort hierarchy. First column has highest priority. Within each category, products sorted by price (high to low). Critical for organized product listings.

All