How do you sort data by string length in MySQL?

Selecting Data by String Length in MySQL

Initial Query Attempt:

Consider the following query, which attempts to sort data by string length:

<code class="sql">SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY string_length(column);</code>

However, this query produces an error. Despite the existence of a string_length function in MySQL, it cannot be used to sort data.

Solution: Using CHAR_LENGTH()

To sort data by string length, you need to use the CHAR_LENGTH() function. Unlike string_length, CHAR_LENGTH() returns the number of characters in a string, not the number of bytes.

Updated Query:

<code class="sql">SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY CHAR_LENGTH(column);</code>

Difference between LENGTH() and CHAR_LENGTH()

For multi-byte character sets (e.g., UTF-8), LENGTH() will return the number of bytes in a string, while CHAR_LENGTH() will return the number of characters. Therefore, for multi-byte character sets, you should use CHAR_LENGTH() for accurate string length calculations.

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