Databases are universal - they underlie the technology you use every day. They're a crucial component of everything from telecommunications systems, banking systems, and video games to just about any other software system that maintains some amount of persistent data.

In this course, you'll learn about the fundamental concepts of databases, why and when they're used, what relational databases are, and entity-relationship diagrams. You will also be exposed to techniques like normalization that help to increase the efficiency of databases. You'll wrap up with a look at the basics of Structured Query Language (SQL). 

After completing this course, you will be able to move onto more advanced courses involving database systems and SQL.

Database Design Fundamentals for Software Engineers

## The ORDER BY clause

The SQL **ORDER BY** clause is used to sort the data of one or more columns in ascending or descending order. Some databases sort the query results in ascending order by default.

### Syntax

The basic syntax of the `ORDER BY` clause is as follows:

```sql
SELECT column-list 

FROM table_name 

WHERE condition 

ORDER BY column1, column2, .. columnN;
```

You can use more than one column in the ORDER BY clause. Make sure whatever column you are using to sort is in the column-list.

### Example

We will sort the CUSTOMERS table in ascending order by the `NAME` column:

# The ORDER BY clause

The SQL **ORDER BY** clause is used to sort the data of one or more columns in ascending or descending order. Some databases sort the query results in ascending order by default.

## Syntax

The basic syntax of the `ORDER BY` clause is as follows:

```sql
SELECT column-list 

FROM table_name 

WHERE condition 

ORDER BY column1, column2, .. columnN;
```

You can use more than one column in the ORDER BY clause. Make sure whatever column you are using to sort is in the column-list.

## Example

We will sort the CUSTOMERS table in ascending order by the `NAME` column:

In this lesson, we will learn about the ORDER BY and GROUP BY clauses.

Introduction

Fundamental Concepts

Data Modeling

Entity-Relationship Data Model

The Relational Data Model

Functional Dependencies

Normalization

Structured Query Language

Conclusion

ORDER BY & GROUP BY

The ORDER BY clause

Syntax

Example