What is difference between != and <> operators in Sql Server?
Since both are used as not operator. E.g :
select * from TableName where ColName <> value
or
select * from TableName where ColName != value
returns same values (Rows).
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14Nothing..............Mitch Wheat– Mitch Wheat2013-08-02 11:10:33 +00:00Commented Aug 2, 2013 at 11:10
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12<> is easier to type because the keys are closer together.Dan Bracuk– Dan Bracuk2013-08-02 11:53:30 +00:00Commented Aug 2, 2013 at 11:53
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2 Answers
There is no difference. You can use both in MSSQL.
!=functions the same as the<>(Not Equal To) comparison operator.
But <> is defined in the ANSI 99 SQL standard and != is not. So not all DB engines may support it and if you want to generate portable code I recommend using <>.
Comments
Most of the databases support both != and <> as not equal comparison operators. <> means either less than or greater than (i.e. not equal to) and was introduced because not all the keyboards used to have the exclamation ! key (a long time ago). Some databases like Oracle also support ^= for not equals.
