Hibernate @OrderBy Annotation with Example (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 27 May, 2026

@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 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 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").