Alternative to SQL INSERT Statements

Scenario: Typical insert statement such as the following example,,,

USE TestDB
GO
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
VALUES ('First',1);
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
VALUES ('Second',2);
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
VALUES ('Third',3);
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
VALUES ('Fourth',4);
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
VALUES ('Fifth',5);
GO

The clause INSERT INTO is repeated multiple times. Many times DBAs copy and paste it to save time. There is another alternative to this, use UNION ALL and INSERT INTO … SELECT… clauses. Regarding performance there is not much difference.

Solution:

USE TestDB
GO
INSERT INTO MyTable (FirstCol, SecondCol)
SELECT 'First' ,1
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Second' ,2
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Third' ,3
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Fourth' ,4
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Fifth' ,5
GO

The effective result is same.