Syntax:

Let's see the syntax below:

                                  
                                    SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1 [ASC | DESC], column2 [ASC | DESC], ...;
                                  
                                

• Replace column1, column2, ... with the names of the columns you want to select.
• Replace table_name with the name of the table.
• Use ORDER BY followed by the column names to specify the sorting order.
• ASC (ascending) is the default sorting order. You can also use DESC (descending).

Example:

Assuming you have a table called "employees":

                                  
                                    CREATE TABLE employees (
    employee_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    first_name VARCHAR(50),
    last_name VARCHAR(50),
    department VARCHAR(50),
    salary DECIMAL(10, 2)
);

INSERT INTO employees VALUES
    (1, 'John', 'Doe', 'HR', 50000.00),
    (2, 'Jane', 'Smith', 'IT', 60000.00),
    (3, 'Bob', 'Johnson', 'Finance', 55000.00);
                                  
                                

To select all employees and order them by last_name in ascending order:

                                
                                    SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY last_name ASC;
                                
                              

This query will return:

Sorting by Multiple Columns:

You can sort by multiple columns by specifying multiple column names in the ORDER BY clause:

                                  
                                    SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY department ASC, salary DESC;
                                  
                                

This query will return employees sorted first by department in ascending order and then by salary in descending order.

Tips:

• Use the ORDER BY clause to sort the result set based on one or more columns.
• By default, sorting is done in ascending order. Use ASC explicitly for clarity.
• Use DESC to sort in descending order.
• Consider the impact on performance when sorting large result sets.