Sql Group By with an Order By

Be a SQL ninja: Grouping and ordering strategies

Below are some badass skills to master the ninja way of grouping and ordering in SQL:

Count with Zen-like precision

SELECT
  GroupColumn,
  COUNT(*) AS TotalCount
FROM 
  TableName
GROUP BY
  GroupColumn
ORDER BY
  TotalCount DESC
LIMIT 10;


It's like counting stars in the sky, COUNT(*) gets the total number of occurrences in each group and order the results by this count in descending order - biggest and brightest first 😎.

Ordering - go by the numbers

Ordering by column index can give a performance steroid to your queries:

SELECT
  GroupColumn,
  COUNT(*) AS TotalCount
FROM 
  TableName
GROUP BY
  GroupColumn
ORDER BY
  2 DESC
LIMIT 10;


Who needs long column names or aliases when you can just point to the column, right? It's like saying "Give me the 2nd slice from the cake" at a party.

Separate but together: Aggregation and ordering

Encapsulate the counting and ordering separately when dealing with complex queries:

SELECT 
  sub.GroupColumn,
  sub.TotalCount
FROM (
  SELECT
    GroupColumn,
    COUNT(*) AS TotalCount
  FROM 
    TableName
  GROUP BY
    GroupColumn
) AS sub
ORDER BY
  sub.TotalCount DESC
LIMIT 10;


Like splitting your large cup of ice cream into two bowls before eating to avoid brain freeze. Same taste, less pain!

Navigating SQL group by and order by

Now let's get our hands dirty and dive deep into SQL best practices and potential minefields for GROUP BY and ORDER BY.

Dealing with rotting SQL versions

With older versions of MySQL like 4.1.25, ordering by an alias might give you a SQL-tantrum. Keep it sweet and simple by ordering using column position – old is gold.

Syntax traps!

In MySQL, don't forget the backticks around column names to avoid unpleasant syntax explosion – it’s not a face cream splash!

LIMIT or Skyfall?

Remember, LIMIT should come after ORDER BY to avoid SQL skyfall:

-- 007 SQL Sequence
GROUP BY 
ORDER BY 
LIMIT;


Beauty filter for your dataset

Before you group your results, you might need to filter irrelevant data using WHERE:

-- Instagram Filters for SQL
SELECT
  GroupColumn,
  COUNT(*)
FROM 
  TableName
WHERE
  ConditionColumn > X
GROUP BY
  GroupColumn


Say no to spaghetti code

Your code isn't a plate of spaghetti. Make sure to format your query well with proper indentation and spacing. It’s SQL haute couture!