EasySQL challenge #80ORDER BY

Sort Users by Signup Date, Newest First

List every user from the most recently created account to the oldest.

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

Solve This SQL Challenge

The task

Sort users by created_at descending.

A correct answer returns 150 rows with 10 columns: id, first_name, last_name, email, phone, city, country, created_at, status, is_premium.

Tables used in this challenge

users 150 rows

id INTEGER (PK) · first_name TEXT · last_name TEXT · email TEXT · phone TEXT · city TEXT · country TEXT · created_at TEXT · status TEXT · is_premium INTEGER

First 3 rows of the users table
idfirst_namelast_nameemailphonecitycountrycreated_atstatusis_premium
1JenniferTorresjennifer.torres57@icloud.com+1-263-376-2371HoustonCanada2024-04-13active0
2DonnaAdamsdonna.adams52@gmail.com+1-753-780-6670Fort WorthCanada2020-09-15inactive0
3KennethYoungkenneth.young94@proton.me+1-440-743-9503AustinUSA2023-09-05active0

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
idfirst_namelast_nameemailphonecitycountrycreated_atstatusis_premium
139MarkGreenmark.green78@proton.me+1-365-430-8527SeattleGermany2024-12-28inactive1
4MichaelCartermichael.carter46@yahoo.com+1-967-275-1964San AntonioFrance2024-12-19active1
96LauraMitchelllaura.mitchell4@yahoo.com+1-668-787-5365ChicagoUSA2024-12-12inactive1
129MichaelThompsonmichael.thompson70@outlook.com+1-259-614-6749Washington DCUSA2024-12-12active0
143JosephLewisjoseph.lewis76@outlook.com+1-515-860-7866Los AngelesBrazil2024-11-11active1

First 5 of 150 rows. This is the output of the model solution on the practice database.

What you practise

  • Returning every column of a table with SELECT *
  • Sorting the result with ORDER BY

Hint and approach

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

Show the hint

ORDER BY DESC

Show the step-by-step approach

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

  1. Read from the users table.
  2. Return every column with SELECT *.
  3. Sort the result by created_at descending.

Model solution

Checking your session…

What to watch for

created_at holds a date with no time, so users who signed up on the same day have no defined order between them. Add id DESC as a second sort column when the order has to be repeatable.

  • 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.
  • SELECT *. SELECT * is fine for exploring, but its output changes whenever a column is added to the table. Queries that feed a report should name their columns.
Solve This SQL Challenge

Same technique, other tables

More practice on this pattern with different columns:

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