Hibernate - @OrderBy Annotation with Example

@OrderBy is a JPA annotation used to define the sorting of elements in a collection within an entity. It ensures that related data is retrieved in a specific order (ascending or descending) directly from the database.

Applies sorting on collection relationships like @OneToMany
Supports ordering using entity fields (ASC/DESC)
Improves data readability by returning ordered results

Examples of @OrderBy Annotation in JPA

Below examples demonstrate how @OrderBy is used to sort associated entities within collection properties.

Java

@Entity
public class Department {
    // on the below line we are creating a variable for department id.
    @Id 
    @GeneratedValue
    private Long departmentID;

    // on the below line we are creating a string variable for department name.
    private String departmentName;

    // on the below line we are creating a variable for
  //  employees list and ordering it by the employeeName field in ascending order.
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "department")
    @OrderBy("employeeName ASC")
    private List<Employee> employees;
}

// on the below line we are creating an Employee class.
@Entity
public class Employee {
    // on the below line we are creating an employee id variable.
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    private Long empID;

    // on the below line we are creating an employee name variable.
    private String employeeName;

    
    @ManyToOne
    @JoinColumn(name = "departmentID")
    private Department department;
}

Explanation: This defines a Department entity where the employees collection is retrieved in ascending order based on the employeeName field using @OrderBy("employeeName ASC").

Java

@Entity
public class Team {
    // on the below line we are creating a variable for team
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    private Long id;

    // on the below line we are creating a string variable for team name.
    private String teamName;

   //  players list and ordering it by the playerName field in ascending order.
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "team")
    @OrderBy("playerName ASC")
    private List<Player> players;
}

// on the below line we are creating a Player class.
@Entity
public class Player {
    // on the below line we are creating a player id variable.
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    private Long playerID;

    // on the below line we are creating an player name variable.
    private String playerName;

    
    // joining it with column using id.
    @ManyToOne @JoinColumn(name = "id") private Team team;
}

Explanation: This defines a Team entity where the players collection is retrieved in ascending order based on the playerName field using @OrderBy("playerName ASC").

Hibernate - @OrderBy Annotation with Example

Examples of @OrderBy Annotation in JPA

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