MySQL INSERT Statements: `VALUES` vs. `SET` – Which Should You Use?

MySQL INSERT syntax comparison: INSERT INTO VALUES and INSERT INTO SET

In MySQL, there are two common syntaxes for inserting values ​​into database tables:

• INSERT INTO table (a, b, c) VALUES (1, 2, 3)
• INSERT INTO table SET a = 1, b = 2, c = 3

Difference:

Both syntaxes can achieve the purpose of inserting new rows into the specified table, but there are subtle differences between them:

• INSERT INTO ... VALUES Follows the SQL standard by explicitly specifying the values ​​of each column in the table by listing them in parentheses. It is more verbose but conforms to strict SQL syntax.
• INSERT INTO ... SET is a MySQL extension that allows you to assign values ​​to columns using the SET clause. This syntax is more concise, but only works in MySQL and is not supported by other SQL databases.

Performance:

Performance-wise, there is no significant difference between the two syntaxes. Both perform insertion operations efficiently and with similar execution times.

Which one to choose?

Which syntax you ultimately use depends on your preferences and the specific context of your database schema.

• If you need to adhere to strict SQL standards, or want to write code that is compatible with multiple databases, INSERT INTO ... VALUES is the safer choice.
• If you want to optimize for readability and brevity, INSERT INTO ... SET may be more appropriate, especially if you have a lot of columns to insert.

The above is the detailed content of MySQL INSERT Statements: `VALUES` vs. `SET` – Which Should You Use?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!