How Do SQL's `>` and `

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SQL String Comparison: Utilizing Greater Than and Less Than Operators

In SQL, the comparison operators (including > and <) can be employed not only with numerical values but also with strings. However, their behavior differs depending on the character set and collation.

Case Sensitivity

By default, in MySQL, string comparisons are case-insensitive. This means that 'BALL' and 'ball' are considered equal and can be compared freely. However, in MySQL, case-sensitive comparisons can be achieved by using a character set with a case-sensitive collation.

Collation and Dictionary Order

When comparing strings, the result is based on the collation of the character set. The collation determines the ordering of characters, affecting the outcome of comparisons. For instance, in the ASCII character set, 'b' comes before 'w', so 'ball' < 'water' would return TRUE.

Impact of Uppercase Characters

As mentioned earlier, case sensitivity depends on the collation. If you use a case-sensitive collation, uppercase characters will affect comparisons. In such cases, 'BALL' < 'water' would return FALSE because 'B' (uppercase) comes after 'w' in the character order.

Conclusion:

String comparisons in SQL using greater than and less than operators are possible and provide a way to determine the ordering of strings based on the character set and collation. Understanding these factors is crucial for accurate string comparisons in SQL.

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