Equals(=) vs. LIKE

Question

When using SQL, are there any benefits of using = in a WHERE clause instead of LIKE?

Without any special operators, LIKE

Answer 1

To address the original question regarding performance, it comes down to index utilization. When a simple table scan occurs, "LIKE" and "=" are identical. When indexes are involved, it depends on how the LIKE clause is formed. More specifically, what is the location of the wildcard(s)?

---

Consider the following:

CREATE TABLE test(
    txt_col  varchar(10) NOT NULL
)
go

insert test (txt_col)
select CONVERT(varchar(10), row_number() over (order by (select 1))) r
  from master..spt_values a, master..spt_values b
go

CREATE INDEX IX_test_data 
    ON test (txt_col);
go 

--Turn on Show Execution Plan
set statistics io on

--A LIKE Clause with a wildcard at the beginning
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS
SELECT txt_Col from test where txt_col like '%10000'
--Results in
--Table 'test'. Scan count 3, logical reads 15404, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 15416, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
--Index SCAN is 85% of Query Cost

--A LIKE Clause with a wildcard in the middle
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS
SELECT txt_Col from test where txt_col like '1%99'
--Results in
--Table 'test'. Scan count 1, logical reads 3023, physical reads 3, read-ahead reads 3018, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
--Index Seek is 100% of Query Cost for test data, but it may result in a Table Scan depending on table size/structure

--A LIKE Clause with no wildcards
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS
SELECT txt_Col from test where txt_col like '10000'
--Results in
--Table 'test'. Scan count 1, logical reads 3, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
--Index Seek is 100% of Query Cost
GO

--an "=" clause = does Index Seek same as above
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS
SELECT txt_Col from test where txt_col = '10000'
--Results in
--Table 'test'. Scan count 1, logical reads 3, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
--Index Seek is 100% of Query Cost
GO


DROP TABLE test

There may be also negligible difference in the creation of the query plan when using "=" vs "LIKE".