LIKE for pattern matching

Concepts covered: sqlLike

When exact matching is too restrictive, pattern matching lets you find rows based on partial values. Why use LIKE? The first pattern starts with Ann, the second ends with @company.com, and the third uses underscores for unknown digits. Wildcard Patterns Suffix Matching This filter keeps any email ending with @orbit.ai regardless of the username. The database scans the email column row by row and keeps entries whose suffix matches the wildcard pattern. Which pattern finds emails ending in .com? The percent wildcard % matches zero or more characters, while the underscore _ matches exactly one character. Place % before a term to match endings, after a term to match beginnings, or on both sides to match anywhere in the string.

About This Interactive Section

This section is part of the Filtering: Intermediate lesson on DataDriven, a free data engineering interview prep platform. Each section includes explanations, worked examples, and hands-on code challenges that execute in real time. SQL queries run against a live PostgreSQL database. Python runs in a sandboxed Docker container. Data modeling problems validate against interactive schema canvases. All content is framed around what data engineering interviewers actually test at companies like Meta, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Stripe, and Databricks.

How DataDriven Lessons Work

DataDriven combines four interview rounds (SQL, Python, Data Modeling, Pipeline Architecture) with adaptive difficulty and spaced repetition. Easy problems get harder as you improve. Weak concepts resurface until you master them. Your readiness score tracks progress across every topic interviewers test. Every lesson section ends with problems you solve by writing and running real code, not by picking multiple-choice answers.