Not Like Operator — SQL Technical Interview Questions & Answers

Not Like Operator

Not Like Operator

  • Not Like Operator is pattern matching. LIKE uses % and _. REGEXP / RLIKE uses regular expressions (e.g. name REGEXP '^[A-Z]'). They are not interchangeable.
  • REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_REPLACE, REGEXP_SUBSTR, REGEXP_INSTR are MySQL 8 helpers. Don’t write Java-style /pattern/g.
  • Trap: LIKE with regex stars. Trap: REGEXP on a huge unindexed column.
  • On the example next to this theory: Not Like Operator — wHERE combines predicates with AND/OR; LIKE does pattern match.

Technical Interview Tip: LIKE vs REGEXP in one sentence, plus one example.

Code Examples for Not Like Operator

Not Like Operator — sample query

CREATE TABLE products (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, price REAL);
INSERT INTO products VALUES (1, 'Pen', 10), (2, 'Book', 200), (3, 'Bag', 50);
SELECT * FROM products
WHERE price BETWEEN 20 AND 150 AND name LIKE 'B%';

Not Like Operator — wHERE combines predicates with AND/OR; LIKE does pattern match.

How to Explain Not Like Operator to an Interviewer

LIKE vs REGEXP?

LIKE is % and _ REGEXP is regular expressions