What does like mean in sql

LIKE is an operator in SQL that is used to search a table for rows that match a specified pattern. It uses the wildcard characters % and to match characters, where % matches any number of characters and matches any single character.

LIKE in SQL

What is LIKE?

LIKE is an operator in SQL that is used to search a database table for rows that match a specified pattern.

How to use

LIKE syntax is as follows:

<code>SELECT column_name
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name LIKE 'pattern';</code>

Among them:

• column_name is Column name to search for.

• pattern is the pattern to match, you can use the following wildcards:

  • %: matches any number of characters.
  • _: Matches any single character.

How it works

The LIKE operator works by comparing column values ​​to a specified pattern. If the column value matches the pattern, the row will be returned.

Example

The following example query returns rows for all names that contain the letter "a":

<code>SELECT name
FROM customers
WHERE name LIKE '%a%';</code>

The following example query returns rows that begin with "J" Rows for all last names:

<code>SELECT last_name
FROM customers
WHERE last_name LIKE 'J%';</code>

NOTE: The

• LIKE operator is not case sensitive.
• LIKE patterns must be enclosed in single quotes.
• If the pattern contains wildcard characters, they must be escaped with backslash (). For example: To find column values ​​that contain the character "%", you would use the pattern \%.

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