Can I depend on order of output when using row_number()

Question

I believe the answer is no. And am looking for a counter example to show that order of output is not guaranteed, absent an order by clause.

Answer 1

If you want it ordered, you must use ORDER BY.

just look at the execution plan with

SET SHOWPLAN_ALL ON

if there is no "order by" in the StmtText column, you just get things however they are sorted after all the work is done. Sometimes you get lucky, sometime not, with how the data is stored/loaded/filtered/joined, etc. and how it is returned.