title: How can I avoid IS [NOT] NULL in an SQL select statement?
body: <p><code>IS [NOT] NULL</code> meddles with the indexes of SQL statements in Oracle, is there any way I can replace <code>IS NULL</code> in an SQL statement?</p>
  
  <p>According to Oracle 9i Performance Tuning Tips and Techniques, having IS [NOT] NULL suppresses the indexes of the columns.</p>
  
  <p>For example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>select * from users where user_id is not null;
  </code></pre>