W warunku WHERE, jeśli chcemy wyciągnąć rekordy o danej zawartości kolumny, można zastosować dwie różne formy – WHERE kolumna=’coś’ i WHERE kolumna LIKE ‚coś’. Z punktu widzenia efektu, jaki twórca zapytania chce uzyskać oba sposoby dają identyczny efekt:
mysql> SELECT * FROM actor WHERE last_name='SWANK';
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| actor_id | first_name | last_name | last_update |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| 9 | JOE | SWANK | 2006-02-15 04:34:33 |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM actor WHERE last_name LIKE 'SWANK';
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| actor_id | first_name | last_name | last_update |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| 9 | JOE | SWANK | 2006-02-15 04:34:33 |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| actor_id | first_name | last_name | last_update |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| 9 | JOE | SWANK | 2006-02-15 04:34:33 |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM actor WHERE last_name LIKE 'SWANK';
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| actor_id | first_name | last_name | last_update |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
| 9 | JOE | SWANK | 2006-02-15 04:34:33 |
+----------+------------+-----------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Pojawia się pytanie, czy oba sposoby są identyczne z punktu widzenia wydajności?