Do using "IN" and "a number of ORs in same SQL query" are Equivalent?

Question

Consider the following two queries:

Query 1

Select * from table where field = value1 OR field = value2 ... OR field = valueN

Query 2

Select * from table where field IN (value1, value2 , .... , valueN)

Are the two queries has same effect on the DB? or Is there an efficient way to do this?

They are identical. The final word on this has the execution plan — a_horse_with_no_name, Feb 15 '13 at 09:46
They are not. The execution plan isn't the end of the story, and the evidence backs that up in [this duplicate question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/782915/mysql-or-vs-in-performance), which finds some cases where `IN` is significantly faster. That said, the difference is unlikely to ever present a problem in reality. — Synchro, Aug 13 '14 at 18:03

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 15 '13 at 09:46

3

No difference!!

Finally in Database internal

This query

Select * from table where field IN (value1, value2 , .... , valueN)

get converted into

Select * from table where field = value1 OR field = value2 ... OR field = valueN

answered Feb 15 '13 at 09:46

Vishwanath Dalvi

1

Yes, the query optimizer step makes them equivalent. – Jonathan Fingland Feb 15 '13 at 09:47

1 Answers1