MediumSQL challenge #117ORDER BY

Find the Second Highest Order Total with LIMIT and OFFSET

Return the second-largest order total in the orders table.

The challenge runs on the SQLabHub practice database (SQLite) and uses the orders table. You can solve it in the browser, with nothing to install.

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The task

Find second highest order total.

A correct answer returns 1 row with one column: total.

Tables used in this challenge

orders 200 rows

id INTEGER (PK) · user_id INTEGER · total REAL · discount REAL · item_count INTEGER · status TEXT · order_date TEXT · shipped_date TEXT · shipping_city TEXT · shipping_country TEXT

First 3 rows of the orders table
iduser_idtotaldiscountitem_countstatusorder_dateshipped_dateshipping_cityshipping_country
1432638.110.253cancelled2024-04-24NULLLos AngelesUSA
2829470.195delivered2024-03-152023-04-09ChicagoUSA
3136683.240.082delivered2023-02-152023-07-10Los AngelesUSA

The first rows of each table are shown. See how all the tables relate on the database schema page.

Expected output

Expected output of the challenge
total
4980.63

The complete result: 1 row. This is the output of the model solution on the practice database.

What you practise

  • Removing duplicate rows with DISTINCT
  • Sorting the result with ORDER BY
  • Returning only the first rows with LIMIT

Hint and approach

Try the challenge first. Open these only when you need them.

Show the hint

LIMIT OFFSET

Show the step-by-step approach

How the model solution is built, in the order the database evaluates it:

  1. Read from the orders table.
  2. Return only the column total.
  3. DISTINCT removes duplicate rows, so each value appears once.
  4. Sort the result by total descending.
  5. Skip the first row with OFFSET and return the next one.

Model solution

Checking your session…

What to watch for

DISTINCT matters: without it, two orders tied for the highest total would occupy the first two positions and the query would return the highest value again. OFFSET 1 skips one row and LIMIT 1 takes the next.

  • DISTINCT. DISTINCT works on the whole selected row. Adding one more column to the SELECT list can bring the duplicates back.
  • LIMIT. LIMIT without ORDER BY returns an arbitrary set of rows. LIMIT is also dialect-specific: SQL Server uses TOP and Oracle uses FETCH FIRST.
  • ORDER BY. Without ORDER BY the row order is not guaranteed, even if it looks stable. Rows that tie on the sort columns can come back in any order.
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