What does the SQL "ORDER BY" clause achieve?

The "ORDER BY" clause in SQL is specifically designed to sort the results of a query in a specified order based on one or more columns. When you include "ORDER BY" in your SQL statement, you can define whether the data should be sorted in ascending or descending order. This is particularly useful when you want to present data in a logical sequence, such as sorting customer names alphabetically or arranging sales figures from highest to lowest.

By enabling users to control the ordering of the results, the "ORDER BY" clause enhances data readability and usability, allowing for clearer insights when analyzing data sets. In practice, this could look like an SQL statement like SELECT * FROM customers ORDER BY last_name ASC; which would retrieve all customer records sorted alphabetically by last name.

The other options represent distinct SQL functionalities. Filtering out duplicate records is typically achieved using the "DISTINCT" keyword. Limiting the number of results returned is accomplished with the "LIMIT" clause in many SQL dialects. Joining multiple tables to combine related data usually involves using the "JOIN" clause in SQL, which brings together rows from two or more tables based on a related column between them. Each of these functionalities serves different purposes and does not relate directly to the sorting of