"Order by desc" in reverse order?
SELECT * FROM ( SELECT ... FROM ... ORDER BY ID ASC LIMIT 3) AS sq ORDER BY ID DESCThink of it as working in two steps. First it executes the inner query: selects 3 records with lowest IDs. Then in the outer query it sorts them in descending order.
You can fetch the first three rows using a subquery and then reverse the order of these rows in an outer query:
SELECT *FROM( SELECT * FROM yourtable ORDER BY ID LIMIT 3) T1ORDER BY ID DESC
Nope, you aren't wrong. There are no difference for any sensible amount of data. Array_reverse is all right.
That's not a thing you have to be concerned too much of. Just use whatever you like more - for readability or other subjective reasons