JAVA DATABASE PROGRAMMING - Introduction to Java Programming: Comprehensive Version - page 1187

When there is more than one column in the select clause, the distinct keyword applies
to the whole tuple in the result. For example, the following statement displays all tuples with
distinct subjectId and title , as shown in Figure 32.16. Note that some tuples may have
the same subjectId but different title . These tuples are distinct.

select distinct subjectId, title
from Course;

F IGURE 32.16

The keyword distinct applies to the entire tuple.

32.3.11 Displaying Sorted Tuples
SQL provides the order by clause to sort the output using the following syntax:

select column-list
from table-list
[ where condition]
[ order by columns-to-be-sorted];

In the syntax, columns-to-be-sorted specifies a column or a list of columns to be sorted.
By default, the order is ascending. To sort in a descending order, append the desc keyword.
You could also append the asc keyword after columns-to-be-sorted , but it is not neces-
sary. When multiple columns are specified, the rows are sorted based on the first column, then
the rows with the same values on the first column are sorted based on the second column, and
so on.
Query 6: List the full names of the students in the CS department, ordered primarily on
their last names in descending order and secondarily on their first names in ascending order.
The query result is shown in Figure 32.17.

F IGURE 32.17

You can sort results using the order by clause.