Should I use != or <> for not equal in T-SQL?

Question

I have seen SQL that uses both != and <> for not equal. What is the preferred syntax and why?

Answer 1

You can use whichever you like in T-SQL. The documentation says they both function the same way. I prefer !=, because it reads "not equal" to my (C/C++/C# based) mind, but database gurus seem to prefer <>.