Specifying Sort Direction
Sorting Columns in Descending Order
We can do more than just sort data in ascending order by default. The ORDER BY clause can also arrange data in descending order, which requires using the DESC keyword.
123SELECT continent FROM country ORDER BY continent DESC;
Sorting Multiple Columns in Descending Order
We can sort data by multiple columns, and in many cases, this is actually necessary. For example, when displaying a list of students, you might want to order them first by their last name and then by their first name. This approach is especially helpful when multiple students share the same name.
Also, if you're sorting in descending order by more than one column, remember that each column must include its own DESC keyword.
123SELECT id, name, region FROM country ORDER BY region, name DESC;
You only need to apply the DESC keyword to the column you want sorted in descending order. In our example, we used DESC for the name column but not for the region column. As a result, the name column is sorted in descending order, while the region column remains sorted in ascending order (the default).
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Write an SQL query to retrieve five columns using the SELECT statement, namely: name, continent, region, population, and capital (please retrieve these columns in this order). Sort the result by two of them: first by continent in descending order, then by population in ascending order.
Solution
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Can you explain what happens if I use DESC for both columns?
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Sorting Columns in Descending Order
We can do more than just sort data in ascending order by default. The ORDER BY clause can also arrange data in descending order, which requires using the DESC keyword.
123SELECT continent FROM country ORDER BY continent DESC;
Sorting Multiple Columns in Descending Order
We can sort data by multiple columns, and in many cases, this is actually necessary. For example, when displaying a list of students, you might want to order them first by their last name and then by their first name. This approach is especially helpful when multiple students share the same name.
Also, if you're sorting in descending order by more than one column, remember that each column must include its own DESC keyword.
123SELECT id, name, region FROM country ORDER BY region, name DESC;
You only need to apply the DESC keyword to the column you want sorted in descending order. In our example, we used DESC for the name column but not for the region column. As a result, the name column is sorted in descending order, while the region column remains sorted in ascending order (the default).
Swipe to start coding
Write an SQL query to retrieve five columns using the SELECT statement, namely: name, continent, region, population, and capital (please retrieve these columns in this order). Sort the result by two of them: first by continent in descending order, then by population in ascending order.
Solution
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