IN operator in t-sql is used in cases where we need to specify a condition e.g in WHERE clause to multiple discrete values at once. It is similar to BETWEEN operator but there is one big difference.

Difference between IN and BETWEEN:

• BETWEEN can be used to define range which is continuous
• IN is used to define values which are discrete – uncontinuous

IN Operator Syntax

SELECT Date
FROM dbo.Table
WHERE Date IN ('2017-05-01', '2017-05-03');

As we can see, the operator is followed by a bracket and in it, the values are separated by a comma. There is a similar way to specify the data negatively by using prefix “NOT IN”.

Query above is equal to the query:

SELECT Date
FROM dbo.Table
WHERE Date = '2017-05-01' OR Date = '2017-05-03';

Operator IN holds the code clearer