title: Sort Order of results for Select WITHOUT WHERE or ORDER BY Clause
body: <p>I have a table with a PK clustered index as well as other indexes on it, both unique and non-unique.  If I issue (exactly):</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM table_name
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>or </p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT col1, col2 FROM table_name
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>in what order will the rows be returned?</p>
  
  <p>This is the first question in an interview questionnaire a customer has forwarded us. Here are the instructions:</p>
  
  <p>If the answer to this question is incorrect, terminate the interview immediately!  The individual, regardless of their stated ability does not understand SQL-Based relational database management systems.  This is SQL-101 logic for the past 25+ years.  The correct answer is: “unknown/random/undetermined because no ORDER BY clause was specified as part of the query”. </p>
  
  <p>I am somehow not convinced that this is actually correct. All comments welcome.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks,</p>
  
  <p>Raj</p>