How to Sort MySQL Version Numbers Stored as `varbinary(300)`?

MySQL Version Number Sorting

When storing version numbers as varbinary(300) in MySQL, sorting them using the default order by version_number may yield incorrect results. To resolve this, consider utilizing the INET_ATON function to facilitate sorting.

The modified query:

SELECT version_number 
FROM table 
ORDER BY INET_ATON(SUBSTRING_INDEX(CONCAT(version_number,'.0.0.0'),'.',4))

This technique relies on the INET_ATON function to convert a string representing an IP address to a numerical representation. By concatenating '.0.0.0' to version_number, we ensure that each version number has at least four components, which we then utilize SUBSTRING_INDEX to extract.

By sorting based on the numerical representation of the first four components of each version number, we achieve the desired sorting order. However, note that since this sorting relies on a function, it may incur a performance penalty compared to sorting directly on the column with an index.

Another solution, proposed by @spanky, involves separating the version number components into individual columns. For example, create columns for major, minor, patch, and build versions. This approach allows for efficient sorting on specific components, but may require more complex data manipulation.

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