SQL Data Analytics • Lesson 6

SQL Operators & Conditions

Learn how to exclude values with <>, match text with LIKE, test missing data with IS NULL, and combine operators with AND and OR.

Your progress0%

0 of 8 concepts completed

Complete the activity and related MCQ to unlock the next concept.

Concept 1NOT EQUAL

Exclude Values with <>

The <> operator (or != in some dialects) means 'not equal to'. It is used when you want every row except the ones matching a specific value.

Interactive Data

Products table

Use this dataset throughout the lesson to see how different operators filter the same set of rows.

PRODUCTS

product_id	product	category	price	stock
101	Laptop	Electronics	₹50,000	12
102	Mouse	Electronics	₹1,200	0
103	Chair	Furniture	₹8,000	25
104	Desk	Furniture	₹15,000	4
105	Keyboard	Electronics	₹2,500	18
106	Monitor	Electronics	₹18,000	7
107	Lamp	Furniture	₹900	40
108	Tablet	Electronics	₹22,000	0

Exclude one category

SELECT product, category

FROM Products

WHERE category <> 'Electronics';

Only rows where category is NOT Electronics are returned.

Chair — Furniture

Desk — Furniture

Lamp — Furniture

Interactive Activity

How many products are NOT in the Electronics category?

Hint: Count the Furniture products.

SQL Analyst Mindset

Every operator changes which rows qualify

Real business questions often need more than one condition. Choosing the right combination of operators — <>, >, NOT IN, LIKE, IS NULL — is what turns a vague request into a precise query.

Understand

What does "exclude" or "match" mean in business terms?

Pick

Which operator expresses the rule precisely?

Combine

Use AND / OR with parentheses.

Validate

Do the returned rows match the business intent?

Lesson Summary

What you learned

<> / !=

Exclude a specific value.

NOT IN / NOT BETWEEN

Exclude a list or a range.

LIKE

Match text patterns using wildcards.

IS NULL / IS NOT NULL

Detect missing values in a column.

SQL Learning Support