✅ Basic SQL Queries: ORDER BY and LIMIT - Sorting and Controlling Output
Why Sorting
- Raw data has no order
- Sorted data reveals patterns
- Analysts sort data in almost every query
What ORDER BY Does
- ORDER BY sorts result rows
- Sorting happens after filtering
- Default order is ascending
Basic Syntax
SELECT column_name
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name;
Example Table: customers
| customer_id | name | city | signup_date |
Sort by Name
SELECT name, city
FROM customers
ORDER BY name;
- Rows sorted alphabetically by name (A to Z)
Descending Order
- Use DESC for reverse order
SELECT name, signup_date
FROM customers
ORDER BY signup_date DESC;
Use Cases
- Latest users first
- Highest sales first
- Recent transactions on top
Sorting Numbers
SELECT order_id, amount
FROM orders
ORDER BY amount DESC;
Sorting by Multiple Columns
- First column sorts primary
- Second column breaks ties
SELECT city, signup_date
FROM customers
ORDER BY city, signup_date DESC;
LIMIT Explained
- LIMIT restricts number of rows returned
- Used to preview data
- Used to get top results
SELECT name, signup_date
FROM customers
ORDER BY signup_date DESC
LIMIT 5;
Top N Queries
SELECT name, amount
FROM orders
ORDER BY amount DESC
LIMIT 10;
Filtering + Sorting + Limiting Together
Execution order:
1. FROM
2. WHERE
3. ORDER BY
4. LIMIT
SELECT name, amount
FROM orders
WHERE amount > 5000
ORDER BY amount DESC
LIMIT 3;
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