Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are the building blocks of filtering logic.

They let you ask questions like "equal to," "greater than," or "not equal."

Core Concepts

flowchart LR
  A[Column value] --> B[Comparison operator]
  B --> C[Literal or expression]
  C --> D[True/false per row]

Operator	Meaning	Example
=	Equal to	score = 100
!= or <>	Not equal to	status != 'closed'
>	Greater than	price > 50
<	Less than	age < 18
>=	Greater than or equal	qty >= 1
<=	Less than or equal	qty <= 10

Code Examples

-- Setup comparison demo table.
CREATE TABLE orders_cmp (
  order_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  total    REAL NOT NULL,
  status   TEXT NOT NULL
);

INSERT INTO orders_cmp (total, status)
VALUES (19.99, 'new'), (120.00, 'paid'), (75.50, 'new');

Expected output
Table created and three rows inserted.

-- Compare totals and status.
SELECT order_id, total, status
FROM orders_cmp
WHERE total >= 75.50 AND status != 'cancelled';

order_id	total	status
2	120.00	paid
3	75.50	new

SQLite-Specific Nuances

SQLite Nuance

SQLite supports both != and <> for "not equal".

Common Pitfalls / Best Practices

Pitfall

Using = NULL or != NULL for null checks.

Use IS NULL or IS NOT NULL instead.

Best Practice

Keep comparisons type-consistent where possible (number-to-number, text-to-text) for clearer intent.

Quick Challenge

Return rows from orders_cmp where total < 100.

View Solution

SELECT order_id, total, status
FROM orders_cmp
WHERE total < 100;

order_id	total	status
1	19.99	new
3	75.50	new