SQL strings and pattern matching cheat sheet
LIKE, SUBSTR, INSTR, REPLACE, case handling and concatenation.
Matching
LIKE wildcards
SELECT name FROM customers WHERE name LIKE 'A%';
% = any run of characters, _ = one character
Case-insensitive match
SELECT name FROM products WHERE LOWER(name) LIKE '%desk%';
Slicing and building
First name
SELECT SUBSTR(name, 1, INSTR(name, ' ') - 1) AS first FROM customers;
Postgres: SPLIT_PART(name, ' ', 1)
Concatenate
SELECT name || ' (' || country || ')' AS label FROM customers;Replace and trim
SELECT TRIM(REPLACE(name, 'in ', '-inch ')) FROM products;
Try it live
sql · editable
loading editor…
Practice it
- Filter customers by country
- Count orders per status
- Most expensive product per category
- Join orders to customers
More cheat sheets
Ready for interview-level questions? Pro unlocks the full company problem set.