Comparison Operators
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Equal and Not Equal Operators
Use comparison operators to check if values are equal (=) or different (<> or !=). MySQL outputs one for true and zero for false, which is why you can even use a comparison directly as a numeric value in some expressions.
Example: Equal and Not Equal Operators
CREATE TABLE products (id INT, price INT);
INSERT INTO products VALUES (1, 50), (2, 75), (3, 50);
SELECT * FROM products WHERE price = 50;
SELECT * FROM products WHERE price <> 50;Greater Than Operators
The greater than operator (>) checks if the left value is bigger than the right. Use greater than or equal (>=) to check if it is at least equal, such as filtering orders above a minimum total.
Example: Greater Than Operators
CREATE TABLE orders (id INT, total INT);
INSERT INTO orders VALUES (1, 40), (2, 120), (3, 200);
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE total > 100;
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE total >= 120;Less Than Operators
The less than operator (<) checks if the left value is smaller than the right. Use less than or equal (<=) to check if it does not exceed a limit, such as a maximum allowed quantity.
Example: Less Than Operators
CREATE TABLE orders (id INT, quantity INT);
INSERT INTO orders VALUES (1, 3), (2, 10), (3, 15);
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE quantity < 10;
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE quantity <= 10;The BETWEEN Operator
The BETWEEN operator checks if a value is within an inclusive range in one concise expression. This is perfect for date limits or numeric bounds, avoiding two separate >= and <= conditions.
Example: The BETWEEN Operator
CREATE TABLE orders (id INT, total INT);
INSERT INTO orders VALUES (1, 40), (2, 120), (3, 200);
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE total BETWEEN 50 AND 150;The IN Operator
The IN operator checks if a value matches any option in a list. This replaces writing multiple equal conditions joined by OR, making multi-value filters much shorter to write and read.
Example: The IN Operator
CREATE TABLE products (id INT, category TEXT);
INSERT INTO products VALUES (1, 'Books'), (2, 'Toys'), (3, 'Food');
SELECT * FROM products WHERE category IN ('Books', 'Toys');Chapter Quiz — Complete all 5 topics to unlock
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