What is the meaning of ASC and DESC keywords in SQL server?
Experience Level: Junior
Tags: DatabasesQuality Assurance (QA)
Answer
Both keywords are used in SELECT query together with ORDER BY statement. They define how the result-set will be sorted.
ORDER BY columnName ASCsorts the result-set in ascending order. The default order for theORDER BYstatement is ascending so if you use neitherASCnorDESCkeyword, the result-set will be sorted in ascending order.ORDER BY columnName DESCsorts the result-set in descending order.
Examples:
The following query will sort the result-set in ascending order:
SELECT * FROM Customers ORDER BY CustomerName ASCThe following query will sort the result-set in ascending order (because neither ASC nor DESC is present):
SELECT * FROM Customers ORDER BY CustomerNameThe following query will sort the result-set in descending order:
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