ORDER BY Multiple Columns in SQL

You can sort query results by more than one column using ORDER BY. This lets you define a priority of sorting.

? Syntax:

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

• The results are sorted first by column1.

• If there are ties in column1, then sorting proceeds by column2.

• And so on for more columns.

? Example:

Sort employees by department_id ascending, then by salary descending within each department:

SELECT employee_name, department_id, salaryFROM employeesORDER BY department_id ASC, salary DESC;

How this works:

• Rows are grouped by department_id in ascending order.

• Within each department group, rows are sorted by salary in descending order.

Notes:

• You can mix ascending and descending order on different columns.

• Ordering can be on any columns, including expressions or aliases.

Want an example with ORDER BY multiple columns plus LIMIT?