SQL ORDER BY

What & Why

The ORDER BY clause is used to sort the result set by one or more columns, ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC). ORDER BY turns a raw result into a useful list. Analysts use it for top campaigns, newest accounts, lowest ratings, and stable exports.

See how it works

Marketing wants campaigns ranked by spend from highest to lowest.

SELECT
  name,
  channel,
  spend
FROM marketing.campaigns
ORDER BY spend DESC, name ASC;

Syntax pattern

See explanation

ORDER BY column_name ASC
ORDER BY metric DESC, name ASC

ASC sorts smallest to largest; DESC sorts largest to smallest.
Use secondary sort columns for stable tie-breaking.
ORDER BY runs near the end of the query.

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