Which statement about the LIKE operator is true?

Which statement about the LIKE operator is true?

• A. It requires an exact match
• B. It compares numbers only
• C. It sorts results by pattern
• D. It searches for patterns in text and is case sensitive

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is that the LIKE operator is all about pattern matching in text. It lets you describe a pattern and find strings that fit it, using wildcards such as % for any sequence of characters and _ for a single character. Because of that, it enables flexible searches like finding names that start with a letter, contain a substring, or end with a suffix, without requiring an exact match. It isn’t about comparing numbers, and it isn’t a tool for sorting results by pattern. Whether the matching is case sensitive depends on the database and the text’s collation. Some systems treat LIKE as case sensitive, others treat it as case insensitive, unless you use a variant like ILIKE or apply a case-conversion function. Given that, the statement that LIKE searches for patterns in text is true, and in many contexts it is described as case sensitive, which is why that option is considered the best fit among the choices.

The main idea here is that the LIKE operator is all about pattern matching in text. It lets you describe a pattern and find strings that fit it, using wildcards such as % for any sequence of characters and _ for a single character. Because of that, it enables flexible searches like finding names that start with a letter, contain a substring, or end with a suffix, without requiring an exact match. It isn’t about comparing numbers, and it isn’t a tool for sorting results by pattern.

Whether the matching is case sensitive depends on the database and the text’s collation. Some systems treat LIKE as case sensitive, others treat it as case insensitive, unless you use a variant like ILIKE or apply a case-conversion function. Given that, the statement that LIKE searches for patterns in text is true, and in many contexts it is described as case sensitive, which is why that option is considered the best fit among the choices.