Swap column values in MySql (via temp variables)

If you want to swap values in one query in MySql without a temporary table, you can use variables to hold values that otherwise would be changed before you can use them.

E.g., swap start_date and end_date via:

UPDATE mydates SET start_date=@tmp:=start_date, start_date=end_date, end_date=@tmp WHERE start_date > end_date