MySQL IN() Operator not working - mysql

Question

How to use IN() Operator not working it's.
Those table are example and look the same as the real database I have.I don't have the permitting to add tables or change
Those are the tables:
students
+------+------+
| id | name |
+------+------+
| 1 | ali |
| 2 | man |
| 3 | sos |
+------+------+
Classes
+------+---------+
| c_id | students|
+------+---------+
| 1 | 1,2,3,4 |
| 2 | 88,33,55|
| 3 | 45,23,72|
+------+---------+
When I use this query it return me only the student with id =1
because "id IN (students)" return 1 when the first value are equal.
select name,c_id from students,classes where id IN (students);
when I get the list out on PHP than add it. it work fine.But, this solution need a loop and cost many queries.
select name,c_id from students,classes where id IN (1,2,3,4);
FIND_IN_SET()
the same happened, it's only return 1 but if the value on other position it return 0.

Answer 1

The IN operator works just fine, where it's applicable for what it does.
First, consider restructuring your data to be normalized, and avoid storing values as comma separated lists.
Second, if you absolutely have to deal with columns containing comma separated lists of values, MySQL provides the FIND_IN_SET() function.
FOLLOWUP
Ditch the old-school comma syntax for the join operation, and use the JOIN keyword instead. And relocate the join predicates from the WHERE clause to the ON clause. Fully qualify column references, eg.
SELECT s.name
, c.c_id
FROM students s
JOIN classes c
ON FIND_IN_SET(s.student_id,c.students)
ORDER BY s.name, c.c_id
To reiterate, storing a "comma separated list" in a column is an anti-pattern; it flies against relational theory and normalization, and disregards the best practices around relational databases. O
One might argue for improved performance, but this pattern doesn't improve performance; rather it adds unnecessary complexity in query and DML operations.

Answer 2

You need three tables.
One table students, one table classes, and then one table, say, students_to_classes containing something like
c_id | student_id
1 | 1
1 | 2
1 | 3
1 | 4
2 | 88
and so on.
Then you can query
select c_id from students_to_classes where student_id in (1,2,3,4)
Google "n:m relationship" for background on this.
EDIT
I know you're not specifically asking for another table structure, but this is a way of having a data type (a single number) that works with IN. Please believe me that this is the right way to do it, the reason you run into trouble with something as simple as IN is that you're using a non-standard approach, which, for such a standard problem, is typically not a good idea.

Answer 3

That's not how the function IN is supposed to work. You use IN when you have a list of possible matches like:
instead of:
WHERE id=1 or id=2 or id=3 or id=4
you use:
WHERE id IN (1,2,3,4)
Anyhow, your logic is not correct. The relation of Class and Student is Many-to-Many, thus a third table is needed. Let's call it studend_class, where you can store the students of each class.
student
+------+------+
| id | name |
+------+------+
| 1 | ali |
| 2 | man |
| 3 | sos |
+------+------+
class
+------+---------+
| id | name |
+------+---------+
| 1 | math |
| 2 | english |
| 3 | science |
+------+---------+
student_class
+------------+-------------+
| class_id | student_id |
+------------+-------------+
| 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 |
| 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 |
+--------------+-----------+
In the example above all students are in math class and ali is also in science class.
Finally, if you whant to know which students are in what class, let's say Math, you can use:
SELECT s.id, s.name, c.name
FROM student s
INNER JOIN student_class sc ON sc.student_id=s.id
INNER JOIN class c ON sc.class_id = c.id
WHERE c.name="math";