Reverse a string without using T-SQL REVERSE() function

DECLARE @StringToReverse VARCHAR(55)

SET @StringToReverse = 'Reverse a string with out using REVERSE() function'

 

;WITH cte AS (

      SELECT @StringToReverse AS string, CAST('' AS VARCHAR(55)) AS revStr, LEN(@StringToReverse) AS ln

      UNION ALL

      SELECT SUBSTRING(string,0,ln) AS string, CAST(revStr + SUBSTRING(string,ln,1) AS VARCHAR(55)) AS revStr, ln-1 AS ln

      FROM cte

      WHERE ln >= 1)

SELECT @StringToReverse AS String, revStr

FROM cte

WHERE ln = 0