Reviewed by Aditya Kumar · Last reviewed 2026-03-24
**SQL**: Columns have no inherent physical order in relational model. **Logical order**: Use SELECT col1, new_col, col2, col3. **View**: CREATE VIEW v AS SELECT col1, new_col, col2 FROM t. **ALTER**: ADD COLUMN adds at end in most systems. **MySQL**: ALTER TABLE t ADD col AFTER...
SQL: Columns have no inherent physical order in relational model. Logical order: Use SELECT col1, new_col, col2, col3. View: CREATE VIEW v AS SELECT col1, new_col, col2 FROM t. ALTER: ADD COLUMN adds at end in most systems. MySQL: ALTER TABLE t ADD col AFTER existing_col. Best practice: Rely on SELECT order for presentation; views for consumer-facing schema.
Red Flag: Assuming physical order matters—it doesn't. Pro-Move: 'We use dbt "staging" views to define column order for BI tools; base tables stay normalized.'
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