Tips for Using Wildcards

As you can see, MySQL's wildcards are extremely powerful. But that power comes with a price: Wildcard searches typically take far longer to process than any other search types discussed previously. Here are some tips to keep in mind when using wildcards:

• Don't overuse wildcards. If another search operator will do, use it instead.

• When you do use wildcards, try to not use them at the beginning of the search pattern unless absolutely necessary. Search patterns that begin with wildcards are the slowest to process.

• Pay careful attention to the placement of the wildcard symbols. If they are misplaced, you might not return the data you intended.

Having said that, wildcards are an important and useful search tool, and one that you will use frequently.