SQL Server : fetching records between two dates?

Question

In SQL I write a SELECT statement to fetch data between two dates, using between and

Ex:

select * 
from xxx 
where dates b         


        

Answer 1

The unambiguous way to write this is (i.e. increase the 2nd date by 1 and make it <)

select * 
from xxx 
where dates >= '20121026'
  and dates <  '20121028'

If you're using SQL Server 2008 or above, you can safety CAST as DATE while retaining SARGability, e.g.

select * 
from xxx 
where CAST(dates as DATE) between '20121026' and '20121027'

This explicitly tells SQL Server that you are only interested in the DATE portion of the dates column for comparison against the BETWEEN range.