How Can I Check if a MySQL String Column Contains a Specific Substring?

Efficiently Searching for Substrings within MySQL String Columns

Frequently, database queries need to identify if a string column contains a particular substring. MySQL offers several approaches to achieve this.

A straightforward method utilizes the LIKE operator. This operator compares a string against a pattern, returning true for a match and false otherwise. The % wildcard represents zero or more characters.

To find rows where a column contains the substring "needle", use this query:

<code class="language-sql">SELECT *
FROM `table`
WHERE `column` LIKE '%needle%'</code>

This query retrieves all rows where the specified column includes the substring "needle".

Keep in mind: Using LIKE with wildcards can impact performance on extensive datasets. For frequent searches, consider creating a full-text index for optimization.

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