Structured Query Language (SQL) databases can store and manage much data across many tables. When you have a lot of data, it’s essential to know how to sort it, especially if you want to look at the results or organize the data for a report or other outside communication. If you need clarification on the ORDER BY AND GROUP BY in SQL, this post will help you. They both are used to organize data obtained by SQL queries. They may have Principal Functions, but there are certain relevant differences. ORDER BY IN SQL is used to arrange the data in ascending or descending Order based on columns; however, GROUP BY CLAUSE
IN SQL is used to group the data based on the same value in a specific column.
Difference between ORDER BY and GROUP BY in SQL
Let’s find the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORDER BY and GROUP BY with the example:
- The Order by keyword arranges the records in ascending Order. To sort records in descending Order, the DECS keyword is used. In This case, we use the select statement before SQL.
Syntax of Order By in SQL:
SELECT column1, column2….
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1 ASC/DESC, column2 ASC/DESC;
Example:
Sort all the students in ascending Order in SQL by the “marks” column.
SELECT Name
FROM Student_details
ORDER BY Roll_no ASC;
- The GROUP BY Keyword is used with aggregate functions such as AVG, MAX, COUNT, MIN, etc. Remember that group by clause are tuples based on the similarity between attribute values of tuples.In this case, we use it before the Order by keyword.
Syntax of Group By in SQL:
SELECT column1, column 2…
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]
GROUP BY column1, column2
ORDER BY column1, column2;
Example:
If we want to know the total marks of each student, then GROUP BY is used as follows:
SELECT Name, Sum(marks)
FROM Student_details
GROUP BY Name;
Read More- Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using Excel: Overview, Benefits, Learning, and Career Opportunities
The key difference between Group By and Order By SQL :
- The Group By clause groups data based on the same value in a specific column. On the other hand, the ORDER BY clause arranges the result and shows it in ascending or descending Order.
- To use the Group By, you have to use the aggregate function. On the other hand, you don’t have to use the aggregate process to use the Order By.
- The attribute cannot be under the GROUP BY statement under the aggregate function, whereas the attribute can be under the ORDER BY statement under the aggregate function.
- Group By clause controls how tuples are shown. This means that grouping is done based on how similar the values of the attributes in each row are.
- The ORDER BY clause, on the other hand, controls how columns are shown. This means that the ordering or sorting is done based on the attribute values of the columns in ascending or descending order.
- GROUP BY is always used after the WHERE clause but before the ORDER BY statement. Whereas ORDER BY is always used after the GROUP BY statement.
Using both ORDER BY and GROUP BY in the same QUERY
We can use both GROUP BY and ORDER BY TOGETHER in MYSQL. They are used together to group rows with the same value and to sort the result in ascending or descending Order. GROUP BY is used to control the way the data is organized for Summarization.The ORDER BY simply sorts the row of the result.When putting the Group By and Order By clauses together in a SELECT statement, it is important to keep in mind that:
The GROUP BY clause is placed after the WHERE clause.
The GROUP BY clause is placed before ORDER BY clause.
GROUP BY goes before the ORDER BY statement because the other operates on the final result of the query
How to place Order BY /Group BY in sequence
THE correct sequence for SQL server is as following-
- form and joins-determine as well as filter rows
- where it is used for more filters
- group by-it combining those rows with groups.
- having-it filter groups
- order by it arranges remaining rows/groups
- limit filters on remaining rows or groups.
From the above table, we conclude that Group By (combines those rows with groups ).
Is used before Having (filter groups)and Order by (arranges remaining rows/groups)is placed.
Conclusion
This post has covered ORDER BY and GROUP BY SQL, Their difference, using them both in SQL and their sequence. Both are extremely helpful and important SQL Database features. A GROUP BY statement sorts data by grouping it based on the column specified in the query. ORDER BY organizing results set alphabetically or numerically in ascending or descending Order. We can either be used together or independently depending on the requirement.
Whenever they are used together GROUP BY clause is placed before ORDER BY. Regarding the ORDER By and GROUP By sequence, GROUP BY is followed by HAVING and then comes ORDER BY.
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