How to Use the Postgres Similar To Operator

Introduction

When you need to find values that match a certain pattern in a PostgreSQL query, there are a few different ways to get the job done. While the LIKE operator might be the first solution that comes to mind, there are many situations where the SIMILAR TO operator offers a better way to accomplish the task. What’s the difference between these PostgreSQL operators? We’ll explain exactly what sets these two operators apart later in the tutorial. In addition, we’ll talk about how the Postgres SIMILAR TO operator works and look at some examples of its use.

Prerequisites

It’s important to make sure the following prerequisites are in place before you attempt to follow along with the examples in this tutoria:

• First, make sure you have PostgreSQL installed and running on your machine. If you’re not sure whether PostgreSQL is installed, you can use the command psql -V to return the version number of the psql interface.
• You should also have at least some basic knowledge of PostgreSQL. Some familiarity with this database will make it easier to understand our instructions and examples.

Postgres SIMILAR TO syntax

Let’s begin our discussion of the Postgres SIMILAR TO operator by comparing and contrasting it to the LIKE operator. Both operators allow you to do pattern matching within a query, returning a value of true if a match is found and false if the value doesn’t match the pattern. However, there’s an important difference to note: the SIMILAR TO operator evaluates patterns according to the definition of a regular expression as established by the SQL standard. Due to this behavior, SIMILAR TO acts as a hybrid of sorts, combining typical regular expression notation and LIKE notation. Put simply, the SIMILAR TO operator provides a bit more pattern-matching power.

We’ll use the following student table in our examples. If you’re planning to follow along and test out the examples in this tutorial, it’s a good idea to create a table of your own similar to this one:

The query shown below will select student records where the gender is ‘Male’:

Here’s what the expected output should look like:

We can see that the pattern we specified with our SIMILAR TO operator was defined correctly, returning just the records with a ‘Male’ value for gender.

Our next query will select students where the name starts with ‘B’:

The following query will select students where the name starts with ‘A’ or ‘J’:

Conclusion

When you need to perform any type of pattern matching in PostgreSQL, it’s important to choose the right method to meet your needs. When you need to combine some of the functionality of the LIKE operator with the pattern-matching power of regular expressions, the SIMILAR TO operator is the best tool for the job. In this article, we took an in-depth look at the Postgres SIMILAR TO operator, providing several examples to illustrate its use. With our examples to guide you, you’ll be able to implement the SIMILAR TO operator in your own PostgreSQL queries.