SQL LIKE

Starting here? This lesson is part of a full-length tutorial in using SQL for Data Analysis. Check out the beginning.

In this lesson we'll cover:

• The SQL LIKE operator

• Wildcards and ILIKE

• Practice problems

LIKE is a logical operator in SQL that allows you to match on similar values rather than exact ones.

In this example, the results from the Billboard Music Charts dataset will include rows for which "group_name" starts with "Snoop" and is followed by any number and selection of characters.

Run the code to see which results are returned.

SELECT *
  FROM tutorial.billboard_top_100_year_end
 WHERE "group_name" LIKE 'Snoop%'

The % used above represents any character or set of characters. In this case, % is referred to as a "wildcard." LIKE is case-sensitive, meaning that the above query will only capture matches that start with a capital "S" and lower-case "noop." To ignore case when you're matching values, you can use the ILIKE command:

SELECT *
  FROM tutorial.billboard_top_100_year_end
 WHERE "group_name" ILIKE 'snoop%'

You can also use a _ (single underscore) to substitute for an individual character:

SELECT *
  FROM tutorial.billboard_top_100_year_end
 WHERE artist ILIKE 'dr_ke'

Practice Problem

---

Write a query that returns all rows for which Ludacris was a member of the group.

Try it outSee the answer

Practice Problem

---

Write a query that returns all rows for which the first artist listed in the group has a name that begins with "DJ".

Try it outSee the answer

SELECT *   FROM tutorial.billboard_top_100_year_end  WHERE "group_name" LIKE 'Snoop%'