SQL ORDER BY CLAUSE WITH DESCENDING ORDER

• Whenever we want to sort the records based on the columns stored in the tables of the SQL database, then we consider using the ORDER BY clause in SQL.
• The ORDER BY clause in SQL helps us to sort the records based on the specific column of a table. This means that initially, all the values stored in the column on which we are applying the ORDER BY clause will be sorted. Then the corresponding column values will be displayed in the same sequence in which the values we have obtained in the earlier step.
• Using the ORDER BY clause, we can sort the records in ascending or descending order as per our requirement. The records will be sorted in ascending order whenever the ASC keyword is used with the ORDER by clause. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order. If no keyword is specified after the column based on which we have to sort the records, then, in that case, the sorting will be done by default in the ascending order.

Before writing the queries for sorting the records, let us understand the syntax.

Syntax to sort the records in descending order:

Let us explore more on this topic with the help of examples. We will use the MySQL database for writing the queries in examples.

Consider we have customers table with the following records:

Example 1:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the customer names stored in the customers table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Name' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's name.

Example 2:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the addresses stored in the customers table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied to the 'Address' column to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's address.

Example 3:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the customer salary stored in the customers table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Salary' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's salary.

Example 4:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the customer age stored in the customers table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Age' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the customers table are displayed in the descending order of the customer's age.

Consider we have another table named agents with the following records:

Example 1:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the agent names stored in the agents table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Name' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the agent's name.

Example 2:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the agent salary stored in the agents table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Salary' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the agent's salary.

Example 3:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the agent's work area stored in the agents table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'WorkArea' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the agent's workarea.

Example 4:

Write a query to sort the records in the descending order of the agent's profit percentage stored in the agents table.

Query:

Here in a SELECT query, an ORDER BY clause is applied on the column 'Profit_Percent' to sort the records. DESC keyword will sort the records in descending order.

You will get the following output:

All the records present in the agents table are displayed in the descending order of the agent's profit percent.