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desc_nulls_first

Returns a sort expression based on the descending order of the given column name, and null values appear before non-null values. Supports Spark Connect.

Syntax

Python
from pyspark.databricks.sql import functions as dbf

dbf.desc_nulls_first(col=<col>)

Parameters

Parameter

Type

Description

col

pyspark.sql.Column or str

Target column to sort by in the descending order.

Returns

pyspark.sql.Column: the column specifying the order.

Examples

Example 1: Sorting a DataFrame with null values in descending order.

Python
from pyspark.databricks.sql import functions as dbf
df = spark.createDataFrame([(1, "Bob"), (0, None), (2, "Alice")], ["age", "name"])
df.sort(dbf.desc_nulls_first(df.name)).show()
Output
+---+-----+
|age| name|
+---+-----+
| 0| NULL|
| 1| Bob|
| 2|Alice|
+---+-----+

Example 2: Sorting a DataFrame with null values in descending order using column name string.

Python
from pyspark.databricks.sql import functions as dbf
df = spark.createDataFrame([(1, "Bob"), (0, None), (2, "Alice")], ["age", "name"])
df.sort(dbf.desc_nulls_first("name")).show()
Output
+---+-----+
|age| name|
+---+-----+
| 0| NULL|
| 1| Bob|
| 2|Alice|
+---+-----+