SSC IMD SA 2017 – Question 178

select name
from instructor
where dept_name = ‘Physics’
order by name;
By default, the order by clause lists items in ______ order.

• Descending
• Any
• Same
• Ascending

Detailed Explanation:

The correct answer is d) Ascending (आरोही).

In standard SQL, the ORDER BY clause is used to sort the rows returned by a SELECT query according to one or more specified columns:

• Default Sort Direction: If neither ASC nor DESC is explicitly specified, the SQL engine sorts the result set in Ascending order (ASC) by default.
• Sorting Behavior:
  • Numeric values are arranged from lowest to highest ($0, 1, 2, …$).
  • Textual/character data is arranged alphabetically from A to Z.
  • Temporal data (dates/times) is sorted chronologically from earliest to latest.
• To achieve reverse or descending sorting (largest to smallest, Z to A), the keyword DESC must be explicitly added after the column name (e.g., ORDER BY name DESC;).