SQL Date Range Filtering: When to Use BETWEEN vs. >= and

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SQL: BETWEEN vs. "<=" and ">="

In SQL Server 2000 and 2005, the BETWEEN operator and the combination of "<=" and ">" operators for date range filtering present distinct characteristics.

BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator is a shorthand syntax that simplifies the expression of a range comparison. For instance, the following two queries filter rows based on the same event date range:

Query 1:

SELECT EventId, EventName
FROM EventMaster
WHERE EventDate BETWEEN '10/15/2009' AND '10/18/2009'

Query 2:

SELECT EventId, EventName
FROM EventMaster
WHERE EventDate >= '10/15/2009' AND EventDate <= '10/18/2009'

Despite their syntactic differences, both queries yield identical results, highlighting that BETWEEN is merely an abbreviation of the longer syntax.

Situational Usage

The choice between using BETWEEN and the "<=" and ">" operators depends on the specific scenario:

• Use BETWEEN: When both endpoints of the range need to be included.
• Use "<=" and ">": When one or both endpoints need to be excluded. For example:

SELECT EventId, EventName
FROM EventMaster
WHERE EventDate >= '10/15/2009' AND EventDate < '10/19/2009'

Handling DATETIME

When working with DATETIME data types (as opposed to DATE), it's crucial to note that the BETWEEN operator considers the time component as well. This means that the following query:

EventDate BETWEEN '10/15/2009' AND '10/18/2009'

Will effectively filter rows for the range from '2009-10-15 00:00' to '2009-10-18 00:00', potentially excluding rows on October 18, 2009.

To include all rows for October 18, 2009, the query should be modified:

EventDate BETWEEN '2009-10-15 00:00' AND '2009-10-18 23:59:59'

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