Re-order columns of table in Oracle

Since the release of Oracle 12c it is now easier to rearrange columns logically.

Oracle 12c added support for making columns invisible and that feature can be used to rearrange columns logically.

Quote from the documentation on invisible columns:

When you make an invisible column visible, the column is included in the table’s column order as the last column.

Example

Create a table:

CREATE TABLE t (
    a INT,
    b INT,
    d INT,
    e INT
);

Add a column:

ALTER TABLE t ADD (c INT);

Move the column to the middle:

ALTER TABLE t MODIFY (d INVISIBLE, e INVISIBLE);
ALTER TABLE t MODIFY (d VISIBLE, e VISIBLE);

DESCRIBE t;

Name
----
A
B
C
D
E

Credits

I learned about this from an article by Tom Kyte on new features in Oracle 12c.