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

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the SQL clause ORDER BY do?

The ORDER BY clause 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?

You list the columns separated by commas in the ORDER BY clause. For example: ORDER BY column1 ASC, column2 DESC sorts first by column1 ascending, then by column2 descending if there are ties.

intermediate

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

Using multiple columns helps organize data more precisely. For example, sorting a list of people by last name and then by first name ensures all last names are grouped and within each group, first names are sorted.

beginner

What is the default sort order in SQL when using ORDER BY?

The default sort order is ascending (smallest to largest or A to Z) if you do not specify ASC or DESC.

beginner

Write a simple SQL query to select all columns from a table named Employees and sort by Department ascending and Salary descending.

SELECT * FROM Employees ORDER BY Department ASC, Salary DESC;

What happens if you use ORDER BY column1, column2 in a SQL query?

A Rows are sorted first by column1, then by column2 if there are ties in column1.

B Rows are sorted only by column2.

C Rows are sorted randomly.

D Rows are sorted only by column1.

The ORDER BY clause sorts rows first by the first column listed, then by the second column if there are ties in the first.

What is the default sorting order when you use ORDER BY column without specifying ASC or DESC?

A Descending order

B Random order

C No sorting

D Ascending order

SQL sorts in ascending order by default if no order is specified.

Which SQL clause is used to sort query results by multiple columns?

A WHERE

B GROUP BY

C ORDER BY

D HAVING

The ORDER BY clause sorts results by one or more columns.

How do you sort by Age descending and then by Name ascending?

A ORDER BY Age DESC, Name ASC

B ORDER BY Name DESC, Age ASC

C ORDER BY Age ASC, Name DESC

D ORDER BY Name ASC, Age DESC

You specify each column with its sort order separated by commas.

If two rows have the same value in the first column of an ORDER BY clause, how are they sorted?

A They remain in the original order

B They are sorted by the next column in the ORDER BY list

C They are sorted randomly

D They are removed from the result

Ties in the first column are resolved by sorting on the next column(s) listed.

Explain how the ORDER BY clause works when sorting by multiple columns in SQL.

Think about sorting a list of names by last name then first name.

Write an SQL query to select all data from a table called Products and sort by Category ascending and Price descending.

Remember to separate columns with commas in ORDER BY.