MySQL Where LIKE

The mysql where LIKE operator is used for select data based on patterns or in other words comparison based on wildcards . Using the LIKE operator in the right way is important to increase the query performance in a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement.

In MySQL, the LIKE operator is used to search for a specified pattern in a string column. It is commonly used in the WHERE clause of a query to retrieve rows that match a particular pattern.

The syntax for the LIKE operator is as follows:

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name LIKE pattern;

In this syntax, column_name(s) is the name of the column or columns that you want to retrieve data from, table_name is the name of the table that contains the data, and pattern is the string pattern that you want to search for. The pattern can contain wildcard characters that match any string of any length, including % (percent sign) and _ (underscore).

Here is an example of using the LIKE operator to retrieve all rows from a table named users where the email column contains the string “gmail.com”:

SELECT *
FROM users
WHERE email LIKE '%gmail.com';

In this example, the % wildcard matches any string of any length before “gmail.com”. This means that any email address that ends with “gmail.com” will be included in the result set.

You can also use the LIKE operator to search for patterns at the beginning or end of a string. For example, to retrieve all rows from the users table where the email column starts with “john”:

SELECT *
FROM users
WHERE email LIKE 'john%';

In this example, the LIKE operator searches for any email address that starts with “john”.

To search for a specific character within a string, you can use the underscore (_) wildcard. For example, to retrieve all rows from the users table where the email column contains an underscore followed by “gmail.com”:

SELECT *
FROM users
WHERE email LIKE '_@gmail.com';

In this example, the _ wildcard matches any single character. This means that any email address that contains an underscore followed by “gmail.com” will be included in the result set.

In conclusion, the LIKE operator in MySQL is a powerful tool for searching for patterns in string columns. It allows developers to easily retrieve data that matches a particular pattern, making it a valuable tool for data analysis and management.

Table structure Used for Example explanation

Example for MySQL LIKE Operator

select name from city where name like(‘A%’);

Output of Above Example - MySQL Where Like

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