Usage of NOT in SQL

Question

Hello, will like to know whether there are any diff between the placement of NOT as both generate the same result for me.
SELECT *
FROM user_list
WHERE m_status NOT IN ('S', 'D')
SELECT *
FROM user_list
WHERE NOT m_status IN ('S', 'D')
Which should be the correct one??

Answer 1

Agree...
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Release 10.2.0.1.0 - Production
SQL> SET AUTOTRACE TRACEONLY EXPLAIN;
SQL> SELECT COUNT (*)
  2  FROM   emp e
  3  WHERE  e.job NOT IN ('SALESMAN', 'MANAGER');
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 2083865914
| Id  | Operation          | Name | Rows  | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT   |      |     1 |     8 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|   1 |  SORT AGGREGATE    |      |     1 |     8 |            |          |
|*  2 |   TABLE ACCESS FULL| EMP  |     9 |    72 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   2 - filter("E"."JOB"<>'SALESMAN' AND "E"."JOB"<>'MANAGER')
SQL> SELECT COUNT (*)
  2  FROM   emp e
  3  WHERE  NOT e.job IN ('SALESMAN', 'MANAGER');
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 2083865914
| Id  | Operation          | Name | Rows  | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT   |      |     1 |     8 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|   1 |  SORT AGGREGATE    |      |     1 |     8 |            |          |
|*  2 |   TABLE ACCESS FULL| EMP  |     9 |    72 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   2 - filter("E"."JOB"<>'SALESMAN' AND "E"."JOB"<>'MANAGER')
SQL>