Not equal <> != operator on NULL

Question

Could someone please explain the following behavior in SQL?

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyColumn != NULL (0 Results)
SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyColumn <         


        

Answer 1

We use

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE ISNULL(MyColumn, ' ') = ' ';

to return all rows where MyColumn is NULL or all rows where MyColumn is an empty string. To many an "end user", the NULL vs. empty string issue is a distinction without a need and point of confusion.