Using an IF Statement in a MySQL SELECT query

Question

I am trying to use an IF statement in a MySQL select query.

I am getting an error after the AND statement where the first IF

Answer 1

How to use an IF statement in the MySQL "select list":

select if (1>2, 2, 3);                         //returns 3
select if(1<2,'yes','no');                     //returns yes
SELECT IF(STRCMP('test','test1'),'no','yes');  //returns no

How to use an IF statement in the MySQL where clause search condition list:

create table penguins (id int primary key auto_increment, name varchar(100))
insert into penguins (name) values ('rico')
insert into penguins (name) values ('kowalski')
insert into penguins (name) values ('skipper')

select * from penguins where 3 = id
-->3    skipper

select * from penguins where (if (true, 2, 3)) = id
-->2    kowalski

How to use an IF statement in the MySQL "having clause search conditions":

select * from penguins 
where 1=1
having (if (true, 2, 3)) = id
-->1    rico

Use an IF statement with a column used in the select list to make a decision:

select (if (id = 2, -1, 1)) item
from penguins
where 1=1
--> 1
--> -1
--> 1

If statements embedded in SQL queries is a bad "code smell". Bad code has high "WTF's per minute" during code review. This is one of those things. If I see this in production with your name on it, I'm going to automatically not like you.