What is the use of LIKE operator in SQL?

Programming Language
#1

The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column. It is used to compare a value to similar values using wildcard operators. There are two wildcards used in conjunction with the LIKE operator.

  • The percent sign (%)
  • The underscore (_)

The percent sign represents zero, one or multiple characters. The underscore represents a single number or character. These symbols can be used in combinations.

The basic syntax of % and _ is as follows −

SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX%'

or

SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '%XXXX%'

or

SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX_'

or

SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX'

or

SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX_'

You can combine N number of conditions using AND or OR operators. Here, XXXX could be any numeric or string value.