SQL ‘Like’ Command Cheat Sheet

The LIKE command in SQL is used to search for a pattern within a text/string column. It’s very useful when you don’t want an exact match but want to find strings that follow a certain pattern. Here’s a clear breakdown:

---

Basic Syntax

SELECT column_name
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name LIKE 'pattern';

• column_name → the column you want to search.
• 'pattern' → the text pattern you are looking for.
• Patterns are case-insensitive in some DBs (like MySQL with default collation) or case-sensitive in others (like PostgreSQL).

---

Wildcards

LIKE uses wildcards to define flexible patterns:

Wildcard	Meaning	Example
%	Any number of characters (including zero)	'a%' → anything starting with a
_	Exactly one character	'a_' → ab, ac but not abc

---

Examples

1. Find names starting with ‘J’

SELECT name
FROM users
WHERE name LIKE 'J%';

Matches: John, Jane, Jack
Does not match: Bob, alice

---

2. Find names ending with ‘n’

SELECT name
FROM users
WHERE name LIKE '%n';

Matches: John, Ethan
Does not match: Jane, Bob

---

3. Find names with exactly 4 letters

SELECT name
FROM users
WHERE name LIKE '____';

Matches: John, Mary
Does not match: Ethan (5 letters)

---

4. Find names containing ‘ar’ anywhere

SELECT name
FROM users
WHERE name LIKE '%ar%';

Matches: Mary, Carol
Does not match: John, Bob