How can I select only the first distinct match from a field in MySQL?

Question

How can I only return the first distinct match of a field in MySQL?

My Table:

name     hash
----------------
Anna     ABC
Barb     DEF
Charlie  GHI
A         


        

Answer 1

When using GROUP BY, MySQL destroy the desc order on the same query level.

Instead of:

SELECT name, hash 
FROM my_table
GROUP BY name
ORDER BY name ASC, hash DESC

Use sub query on descending order:

SELECT * FROM(
  SELECT name, hash
  FROM my_table
  ORDER BY name ASC, hash DESC
)Q 
GROUP BY name