Less than
Returns true when the left operand is less than the right operand.
Category: comparison
SQL symbol: <
Syntax
sql
<left> < <right>Parameters
<left>— The value to compare. Strings order byte-by-byte, so uppercase sorts before lowercase. Acceptsdate,decimal,float,integer,interval,nvarchar,timestamp,varbinary,varchar.<right>— The value to compare it against. Acceptsdate,decimal,float,integer,interval,nvarchar,timestamp,varbinary,varchar.
Returns
Examples
sql
SELECT name FROM $planets WHERE gravity < 5;Mercury
Mars
Pluto
Signatures
date < date→ booleandate < timestamp→ booleandecimal < decimal→ booleandecimal < float→ booleandecimal < integer→ booleanfloat < decimal→ booleanfloat < float→ booleanfloat < integer→ booleaninteger < decimal→ booleaninteger < float→ booleaninteger < integer→ booleaninterval < interval→ booleannvarchar < nvarchar→ booleannvarchar < varbinary→ booleannvarchar < varchar→ booleantimestamp < date→ booleantimestamp < timestamp→ booleanvarbinary < nvarchar→ booleanvarbinary < varbinary→ booleanvarbinary < varchar→ booleanvarchar < nvarchar→ booleanvarchar < varbinary→ booleanvarchar < varchar→ boolean
Notes
NULL on either side gives NULL, so ordering comparisons never match an absent value.