Rank scores. If there is a tie between two scores, both should have the same ranking. Note that after a tie, the next ranking number should be the next consecutive integer value. In other words, there should be no holes between ranks.
This challenge now meets the current minimum standard for sitemap inclusion and independent indexing.
Rank scores. If there is a tie between two scores, both should have the same ranking. Note that after a tie, the next ranking number should be the next consecutive integer value. In other words, there should be no holes between ranks.
This problem is the cleanest introduction to the difference between RANK, DENSE_RANK, and ROW_NUMBER. That distinction matters any time you build leaderboards, tier customers, or rank products where duplicate metric values are common.
idscoreSELECT
score,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY score DESC) AS rank
FROM scoresDENSE_RANK is purpose-built for this requirement. Equal scores share the same rank, and the next distinct score gets the next consecutive rank value with no gaps.
WITH ranked_values AS (
SELECT
score,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY score DESC) AS rank
FROM (
SELECT DISTINCT score
FROM scores
) distinct_scores
)
SELECT
s.score,
r.rank
FROM scores s
JOIN ranked_values r
ON s.score = r.scoreThis version makes the value-tier logic explicit by ranking only distinct score values first. It is longer, but it is useful when you want to teach that ranking depends on unique metric levels rather than the physical row count.
Using RANK instead of DENSE_RANK creates holes after ties, which directly violates the requirement. Using ROW_NUMBER is even worse because tied scores get different ranks, turning a value-tier problem into a row-order problem.
Both give tied values the same rank, but RANK leaves gaps after ties while DENSE_RANK does not. This challenge explicitly says there should be no holes, so DENSE_RANK is the correct choice.
Use DESC because the highest score should receive rank 1. Ordering ASC would reverse the leaderboard and rank the smallest score first.
Use these guides when you want the fuller explanation behind the SQL pattern this challenge is testing.
Master ROW_NUMBER, RANK, and running totals with interactive visualizations. See exactly how window functions process your data row by row.
Building leaderboards, finding top performers, or paginating results? Master the three SQL ranking functions and understand exactly when to use each one.
Need to compare a row with its previous or next row? Learn how SQL's LEAD and LAG window functions let you access neighboring rows without complex self-joins.
If this problem exposed a deeper weakness, use a topic hub to move through a curated cluster instead of random article hopping.
If you want the rotating practice flow, open this same question from the daily stream. If you want interview-style packaging, continue into the interview pool after this rep.
Find the second distinct highest salary without accidentally returning the same maximum twice.
Compare each weather row with the previous day and return only the IDs where temperature increased day over day.
Use a running total to find the last passenger whose cumulative weight still stays under the bus limit.