BETWEEN clause versus <= AND >=

Question

Is there a performance difference between using a BETWEEN clause or using <= AND >= comparisons?

i.e. these two queries:

SELECT *  
  FROM table           


        

Answer 1

There is no performance difference between the two example queries because BETWEEN is simply a shorthand way of expressing an inclusive range comparison. When Oracle parses the BETWEEN condition it will automatically expand out into separate comparison clauses:

ex.

SELECT *  
  FROM table
 WHERE column BETWEEN :lower_bound AND :upper_bound  

...will automatically become:

SELECT *  
  FROM table
 WHERE :lower_bound <= column
   AND :upper_bound >= column