Which operator is used in query for pattern matching?

SQL
#1

The LIKE operator is used in SQL to search for a specific pattern in a column. The percent symbol (%), also known as a wildcard, represents zero, one, or multiple characters, while the underscore (_) represents a single character. In Microsoft Access, the question mark (?) is used instead of the underscore to represent a single character. This operator can be used in a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement

Example:

Employee Table

emp_id emp_name salary dept_id manager_id
E1 Rahul 15000 D1 M1
E2 Manoj 15000 D1 M1
E3 James 55000 D2 M2
E4 Michael 25000 D2 M2
E5 Ali 20000 D10 M3
E6 Robin 35000 D10 M3

To select all employees with a name that starts with a, you can use the following SQL statement:

SELECT *  FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE 'a%';

Output

emp_id emp_name salary dept_id manager_id
E5 Ali 20000 D10 M3

To select all employees with a name that ends with s, you can use the following SQL statement:

SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE '%s';

Output

emp_id emp_name salary dept_id manager_id
E3 James 55000 D2 M2

To select all employees with a name that contains the letter a in any position, you can use the following SQL statement:

SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE '%a%';

Output

emp_id emp_name salary dept_id manager_id
E1 Rahul 15000 D1 M1
E2 Manoj 15000 D1 M1
E3 James 55000 D2 M2
E4 Michael 25000 D2 M2
E5 Ali 20000 D10 M3

The SQL statement below chooses all workers whose names begin with a and have at least three characters:

SELECT *  FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE 'a__%';

Output

emp_id emp_name salary dept_id manager_id
E5 Ali 20000 D10 M3

Code Runner

Copy the below queries in the code runner to see the result 

SELECT *  FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE 'a%';

SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE '%s';

SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE '%a%';

SELECT *  FROM Employee WHERE emp_name LIKE 'a__%';