LIKE vs. ~ in PostgreSQL: When Should I Use Which String Matching Operator?

Comparison of LIKE and ~ operators in PostgreSQL

Many developers habitually use the LIKE operator when performing string matching in database operations. However, experienced PostgreSQL users may recommend avoiding LIKE in favor of using the ~ operator. This article will dive into the differences between these two operators and explain the best use cases for each.

Disadvantages of the LIKE operator

Although LIKE provides basic wildcard matching functionality, it also has some limitations:

• Regular expressions not supported: LIKE only allows simple wildcard characters such as %, _ and [].
• Case Sensitive: The behavior of LIKE is case sensitive, which may lead to unexpected results.

~ Operator: Regular expression operator

The

~ operator, also known as the regular expression operator, makes up for the shortcomings of LIKE by providing a more powerful and flexible method of string matching.

~ Main features of operators:

• Supports regular expressions: ~ Utilize the full functionality of regular expressions to achieve complex pattern matching.
• Case-insensitive: By default, ~ performs a case-insensitive match, making it ideal for scenarios where case changes are expected.
• Support quantifiers: Regular expressions allow the use of quantifiers such as *, and ?, giving greater control over string matching patterns.

When to use each operator

• Simple string matching: For basic wildcard matching using predefined patterns, LIKE is sufficient.
• Complex string patterns: For scenarios that require advanced string matching (such as matching email addresses or XML tags), ~ is ideal.
• Case-insensitive matching: ~ should be used when case changes need to be taken into account.

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