Use ORDER BY when a query needs predictable result order—for example, listing title names alphabetically instead of accepting whatever order the database returns. Add it after the other main query clauses; sorting happens after the result set is produced. section 4.1.1
SELECT
TitleName,
Price
FROM title
ORDER BY
TitleName;
Sorts selected title names alphabetically by adding ORDER BY TitleName to a complete query. section 4.1.1
Ascending order is implicit: text runs from A to Z and numbers from low to high. Write DESC for descending order, or ASC for clarity. Each sort column can have its own direction. section 4.1.3
Sort by a primary column and a tie-breaker
SELECT TitleName, Advance, Royalty FROM title ORDER BY Advance DESC, Royalty ASC; This puts the largest advances first; rows with equal advances are then ordered by royalty from smallest to largest. section 4.1.2 section 4.1.3
You can sort by a selected column’s alias, such as NameOfTheBook, or by its numeric position in SELECT. Positional sorting is convenient for quick queries but becomes unclear and fragile when the selected columns change. section 4.1.1 section 4.1.5
SELECT
TitleName,
PublicationDate
FROM title
ORDER BY PublicationDate DESC
LIMIT 3;
Combines descending date order with LIMIT to return the three most recently published titles. section 4.2.1
When limiting results, put LIMIT after ORDER BY so the returned rows represent a meaningful top or bottom sample; without ordering, a limited result can be random and unpredictable. Sorting very large result sets can also consume substantial processor and memory resources. section 4.2.1 section 4.1.1
