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Arithmetic and comparison operators

Table 3-2 shows examples of the basic arithmetic and comparison operators in SELECT statements. The basic arithmetic operators are *, +, /, and -, as well as the parentheses ( ) to control the order of evaluation of an expression.

Table 3-2. Using the arithmetic and comparison operators

SELECT 8+3*2;

14

SELECT (8+3)*2;

22

SELECT 2=2;

1

SELECT 1!=2;

1

SELECT 2<=2;

1

SELECT 3<=2;

0

The comparison operators include =, !=, <, >, <=, and >=. Four examples are shown in Table 3-2. If an expression evaluates as true, the output is 1; if an expression evaluates as false, the output is 0. To test for equality, a single equals sign is used; this contrasts with PHP, where the double equals (==) is used for equality tests, and a single equals sign is used for assignment.

To test whether two items are equal, the != operator is provided. Less-than-or-equal-to is represented by <=, and greater-than-or-equal-to is represented by >=. Parentheses can explicitly express the evaluation order.

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