Ordering grouped results

Sort grouped results.

GROUP BY with ordering

You sort the GROUP BY result with ORDER BY. You can put the highest total first.

SELECT category, SUM(price) AS total
FROM products
GROUP BY category
ORDER BY total DESC;

This query puts the highest total on top.

category, SUM(price) AS total is selected from products. Rows are grouped by category; aggregate functions are computed per group. The result is sorted by total in descending order.

GROUP BY with ordering — details

ORDER BY can sort by the aggregate result or an alias. DESC is descending, ASC is ascending.

For example, ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC puts the largest category at the top; if you gave an alias you can also write ORDER BY total DESC.

Exercise GROUP BY with ordering

Sort category totals with ORDER BY total DESC.

Show example solution

SELECT category, SUM(price) AS total
FROM products
GROUP BY category
ORDER BY total DESC;

Test yourself

Add ORDER BY

SELECT category, SUM(price) AS total
FROM products
GROUP BY category
____ total DESC;

Show answer

SELECT category, SUM(price) AS total
FROM products
GROUP BY category
ORDER BY total DESC;

Ordering grouped results: match the terms

ORDER BY

sort
DESC

descending
ASC

ascending
GROUP BY

group
What makes ordering descending?
- NULL
- ASC
- DESC
- DISTINCT
Show answer

DESC — DESC gives descending order.

Next lesson: Summary - GROUP BY

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