ORDER BY multiple columns in MySQL - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the ORDER BY clause do in SQL?

It sorts the rows returned by a query based on one or more columns, either in ascending (default) or descending order.

beginner

How do you sort query results by multiple columns in SQL?

List the columns separated by commas in the ORDER BY clause, like ORDER BY column1, column2. The sorting happens first by column1, then by column2 within the same values of column1.

beginner

What is the default sorting order when using ORDER BY without specifying ASC or DESC?

The default sorting order is ascending (ASC), which means from smallest to largest or alphabetically A to Z.

intermediate

Write a query to sort employees first by department ascending, then by salary descending.

Example query: <br>SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY department ASC, salary DESC;

beginner

Why would you use multiple columns in an ORDER BY clause?

To organize data more precisely. For example, sorting by last name and then by first name helps list people alphabetically by full name.

What happens if you write ORDER BY age, name in a query?

A Rows are sorted by name first, then by age within the same name.

B Rows are sorted by age first, then by name within the same age.

C Rows are sorted randomly.

D Query will return an error.

The ORDER BY clause sorts by the first column listed (age), then by the second (name) for rows with the same age.

Which keyword sorts data in descending order?

A DOWN

B ASC

C DESC

D REVERSE

DESC sorts data from largest to smallest or Z to A.

If you want to sort by two columns, which is the correct syntax?

A ORDER BY column1 AND column2

B ORDER BY column1; ORDER BY column2

C ORDER BY (column1, column2)

D ORDER BY column1, column2

Use commas to separate columns in ORDER BY to sort by multiple columns.

What is the default sort order if none is specified?

A Ascending

B No sorting

C Random

D Descending

The default sort order is ascending (ASC).

Which of these queries sorts employees by salary descending and then by name ascending?

A ORDER BY salary DESC, name ASC

B ORDER BY name ASC, salary DESC

C ORDER BY salary, name

D ORDER BY salary ASC, name DESC

The first column sorts by salary descending, the second by name ascending.

Explain how to use the ORDER BY clause to sort data by multiple columns.

Think about sorting a list by last name, then first name.

Describe a real-life example where sorting by multiple columns is useful.

Imagine organizing a phone book or a store inventory.