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Rank, Dense Rank, and Row Number - Differences

SQLmedium0.4 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
487
questions in SQL
Difficulty Split
130E|271M|86H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Tech Mahindra
Expert AnswerPremium
74 wordsInterview-ready
ROW_NUMBER: unique 1,2,3,... always. RANK: ties get same rank, gap after (1,2,2,4). DENSE_RANK: ties same rank, no gap (1,2,2,3). Use ROW_NUMBER for single winner; RANK for olympic (ties, gaps); DENSE_RANK for no gaps. Example: top N per group—ROW_NUMBER; ranking with ties—RANK or DENSE_RANK. **Why it matters**: Design choices compound at scale—wrong approach can cause 100× overhead. **Scalability trade-offs**: Profile before optimizing; validate on sample then full....
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