GROUP BY Versus ORDER BY

You should understand that the GROUP BY clause works the same as the ORDER BY clause in that both are used to sort data. The ORDER BY clause is specifically used to sort data from a query; the GROUP BY clause also sorts data from a query to properly group the data. Therefore, the GROUP BY clause can be used to sort data the same as ORDER BY.

There are some differences and disadvantages of using GROUP BY for sorting operations:

  • All non-aggregate columns selected must be listed in the GROUP BY clause.

  • Integers cannot be used in the GROUP BY to represent columns after the SELECT keyword, similar to using the ORDER BY clause.

  • The GROUP BY clause is generally not necessary unless using aggregate functions.

An example of performing ...

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