Summary  
This chapter explains how to sort query results using SQL’s ORDER BY clause to retrieve data in a specified order (ascending by default) and where to place it relative to a LIMIT clause.

General domain of usage  
Database querying

The data you receive can be sorted in a specific order. To do this, you first retrieve the data using the `SELECT` statement and then apply the `ORDER BY` clause. This clause takes the **names of columns** based on which the output will be sorted. 

Here's the syntax:

```sql
SELECT columns
FROM table
ORDER BY column_name
```

The following example orders the result by the `continent` column:

SELECT continent 
FROM country 
ORDER BY continent;

By default, `ORDER BY` sorts in **ascending order** — numerically for numeric columns and alphabetically for string columns.

Also, the `ORDER BY` clause should be placed just before the `LIMIT` clause, if a `LIMIT` clause is included in the query.

**Explanation:** In the example, you can observe that the `ORDER BY` clause sorts the data based on the `continent` column.


import unittest
import pandas as pd
import psycopg2

class TestTask(unittest.TestCase):
    @classmethod
    def setUpClass(cls):
        cls.connection = psycopg2.connect(
            host="localhost",
            user="agent",
            password="qwerty",
            dbname="testdb",
            sslmode="disable"
        )
        cls.cursor = cls.connection.cursor()

    def test_correct_output_sorted(self):
        """Check if capitals are selected and sorted alphabetically."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as file:
            query = file.read()
        self.cursor.execute(query)
        rows = self.cursor.fetchall()
        capitals = [row[0] for row in rows]
        expected_capitals = [
            'Amsterdam', 'Asunción', 'Bangkok', 'Kyiv', 'Lisbon', 'Manila',
            'Mexico City', 'Monaco', 'Oslo', 'Riga', 'Stockholm', 'Tokyo',
            'Valletta', 'Washington', 'Wellington'
        ]
        capitals_no_spaces = [c.strip() for c in capitals]
        expected_capitals_no_spaces = [c.strip() for c in expected_capitals]
        is_sorted = capitals_no_spaces == sorted(expected_capitals_no_spaces)
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            is_sorted,
            "Capitals are returned in alphabetical order.",
            f"Capitals are not sorted alphabetically. Got: {capitals_no_spaces}"
        )

    def test_only_capital_column_selected(self):
        """Check that only the 'capital' column is selected."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as file:
            query = file.read()
        self.cursor.execute(query)
        columns = [desc[0] for desc in self.cursor.description]
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            columns == ['capital'],
            "Only 'capital' column is selected.",
            f"Unexpected columns selected: {columns}"
        )

    def test_no_syntax_error(self):
        """Check that query does not raise a syntax error."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as file:
            query = file.read()
        try:
            self.cursor.execute(query)
            _dynamic_test(
                self,
                True,
                "Query executes without syntax error.",
                ""
            )
        except Exception as e:
            _dynamic_test(
                self,
                False,
                "",
                f"Query raised an error: {e}"
            )

    def test_table_and_column_exist(self):
        """Check that 'country' table and 'capital' column are referenced."""
        with open("query.sql", "r") as file:
            query = file.read().lower()
        has_country = 'from country' in query
        has_capital = 'select capital' in query
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            has_country and has_capital,
            "Query references 'country' table and 'capital' column.",
            "Query must reference both 'country' table and 'capital' column."
        )

def _dynamic_test(test_case, condition, success_message, failure_message):
    if condition:
        test_case._testMethodName = success_message
        test_case.assertTrue(True, success_message)
    else:
        test_case._testMethodName = failure_message
        test_case.fail(failure_message)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()


test_solution.py

Explore the essentials of SQL — from querying data to integrating it into real-world applications. Whether you're just starting out in database management or aiming to use SQL for your application development projects, this course covers the essentials. You'll quickly learn how to leverage the full potential of SQL, from querying and managing data to seamlessly integrating it into real-world applications. By the end of the course, you'll have the confidence and skills to solve practical problems with SQL and enhance your development process.

In this section, we will learn how to use the SQL SELECT statement to get a single table column, multiple table columns, and all table columns. We will also find out how to return unique values.

In this section, we’ll explore how to organize and prioritize the data returned by a query using the ORDER BY clause. Placed at the end of a SELECT statement, this clause lets you sort your results by one or multiple columns, either in ascending or descending order, enabling more meaningful and easily interpretable data output.

In this section, we will learn how to filter returned data using the SELECT statement's WHERE clause. We will learn how to test for equality, inequality, more and less significant than value ranges, and NULL values.

In this section, we’ll explore how to refine your search conditions by combining WHERE clauses with the AND and OR operators. We’ll also cover how the NOT operator can be used to exclude certain results.

In this section, we will learn what the SQL aggregate functions are and how to use them to summarize table data.

Sorting Data

Solution