🌱 BasicsbeginnerCommonly used

How to sort results with ORDER BY in SQL

Sort query results by one or more columns, ascending or descending.

Sort ascending (A → Z, 1 → 9)All databases

SELECT name, age
FROM users
ORDER BY age ASC;

ASC sorts from smallest to largest (or A to Z). ASC is the default so it can be omitted.

Sort descending (Z → A, 9 → 1)All databases

SELECT name, age
FROM users
ORDER BY age DESC;

DESC sorts from largest to smallest (or Z to A).

When to use: Getting the newest records, highest scores, most recent dates.

Sort by multiple columnsAll databases

SELECT name, country, age
FROM users
ORDER BY country ASC, age DESC;

First sorts by country A-Z, then within each country sorts by age from oldest to youngest.

When to use: When you need a primary and secondary sort.

Sort by column positionAll databases

SELECT name, age, country
FROM users
ORDER BY 2 DESC;  -- 2 = age column

You can reference columns by their position number in the SELECT list.

Avoid in production — fragile if column order changes.

Sort NULLs last (PostgreSQL)PostgreSQL

SELECT name, score
FROM users
ORDER BY score DESC NULLS LAST;

By default PostgreSQL puts NULLs first in DESC order. NULLS LAST puts them at the end.

Common Mistakes

→Relying on default sort order without ORDER BY — SQL tables have no guaranteed order without it
→Sorting by column alias in databases that do not support it (use column name or position instead)