# BETWEEN AND

## Syntax

```sql
expr BETWEEN min AND max
```

## Description

If `expr` is greater than or equal to `min` and `expr` is less than or equal to `max`, `BETWEEN` returns `1`, otherwise it returns `0`. This is equivalent to the expression (`min <= expr AND expr <= max`) if all the arguments are of the same type. Otherwise type conversion takes place according to the rules described at [Type Conversion](/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/type-conversion.md), but applied to all the three arguments.

## Examples

```sql
SELECT 1 BETWEEN 2 AND 3;
+-------------------+
| 1 BETWEEN 2 AND 3 |
+-------------------+
|                 0 |
+-------------------+
```

```sql
SELECT 'b' BETWEEN 'a' AND 'c';
+-------------------------+
| 'b' BETWEEN 'a' AND 'c' |
+-------------------------+
|                       1 |
+-------------------------+
```

```sql
SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND '3';
+---------------------+
| 2 BETWEEN 2 AND '3' |
+---------------------+
|                   1 |
+---------------------+
```

```sql
SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND 'x-3';
+-----------------------+
| 2 BETWEEN 2 AND 'x-3' |
+-----------------------+
|                     0 |
+-----------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)

Warning (Code 1292): Truncated incorrect DOUBLE value: 'x-3'
```

`NULL`:

```sql
SELECT 1 BETWEEN 1 AND NULL;
+----------------------+
| 1 BETWEEN 1 AND NULL |
+----------------------+
|                 NULL |
+----------------------+
```

`DATE`, `DATETIME` and `TIMESTAMP` examples. Omitting the time component compares against `00:00`, so later times on the same date are not returned:

```sql
CREATE TABLE `x` (
  a date ,
  b datetime,
  c timestamp
)

INSERT INTO x VALUES 
 ('2018-11-11', '2018-11-11 05:15', '2018-11-11 05:15'), 
 ('2018-11-12', '2018-11-12 05:15', '2018-11-12 05:15'); 

SELECT * FROM x WHERE a BETWEEN '2018-11-11' AND '2018-11-12';
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| a          | b                   | c                   |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-11-11 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 |
| 2018-11-12 | 2018-11-12 05:15:00 | 2018-11-12 05:15:00 |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+

SELECT * FROM x WHERE b BETWEEN '2018-11-11' AND '2018-11-12';
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| a          | b                   | c                   |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-11-11 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+

SELECT * FROM x WHERE c BETWEEN '2018-11-11' AND '2018-11-12';
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| a          | b                   | c                   |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-11-11 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 | 2018-11-11 05:15:00 |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
```

### Common Pitfall When Using Strings as Conditions

The following query doesn't show countries whose name starts with 'D':

```sql
SELECT name
FROM countries
WHERE name BETWEEN "B" AND "D"
ORDER BY name ASC;
+--------------------------------+
| name                           |
+--------------------------------+
| Bahamas                        |
| Bahrain                        |
| Bangladesh                     |
...
| Cuba                           |
| Cyprus                         |
| Czech Republic                 |
+--------------------------------+
41 rows in set (0.001 sec)
```

When using `WHERE name BETWEEN 'B' AND 'D'`, the condition includes all names that start with 'B' because 'B' is the lower bound and is inclusive. However, names starting with 'D' are excluded because the upper bound 'D' is treated as a string, and the comparison stops at the character level. For example, a name like 'D' is included if it matches exactly, but a name like 'Denmark' is not included because 'Denmark' is lexicographically greater than 'D'.

## See Also

* [Operator Precedence](/docs/server/reference/sql-structure/operators/operator-precedence.md)

<sub>*This page is licensed: GPLv2, originally from*</sub> [<sub>*fill\_help\_tables.sql*</sub>](https://github.com/MariaDB/server/blob/main/scripts/fill_help_tables.sql)

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