What is the difference between <> and != operators in MySQL? [duplicate]

Question

If I use a simple table such as :

create table test ( a int ); insert into test values ( 1 ) , ( 2 ) , ( 2 ) , ( 3 ); select * from test where a <> 2; select * from test where a != 2; 

Both give me :

+------+ | a    | +------+ |    1 | |    3 | +------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) 

So what is the difference between <> and != mysql operators ?

Answer 1

<> should be preferred, all things being equal, since it accords with the sql standard and is technically more portable...

!= is non-standard, but most db's implement it.

sql:2008 grammar:

<not equals operator> ::=   <> 

Answer 2

They are both exactly the same. See the documentation.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/comparison-operators.html#operator_not-equal