LIKE and Pattern Matching

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1. What is LIKE in SQL?

The LIKE operator in SQL is used to search for a specified pattern in a column. It is commonly used in the WHERE clause to filter results based on partial string matches.

2. What is a wildcard in SQL?

Wildcards are special characters used with the LIKE operator to enable pattern matching. The two main wildcards in SQL are:

%: Represents any sequence of characters (including no characters).
_: Represents exactly one character.

3. Write a query to find records where a column value starts with ‘A’.

To match values that start with a specific character or string, use the LIKE operator with the % wildcard at the end.

Example:

				
					SELECT name 
FROM employees 
WHERE name LIKE 'A%';

4. How do you match rows where a value ends with a specific pattern using LIKE?

To match values that end with a specific pattern, use the LIKE operator with the % wildcard at the beginning.

Example:

				
					SELECT name 
FROM employees 
WHERE name LIKE '%son';

5. Explain how the % and _ wildcards work in SQL.

%: Matches any sequence of characters (including no characters).
_: Matches exactly one character.

Examples:

LIKE 'A%': Matches ‘A’, ‘Abc’, ‘Apple’, etc.
`LIKE ‘a‘: Matches ‘cat’, ‘bat’, etc. (values with exactly 3 characters where the middle one is ‘a’).