Difference between LIKE and = in MYSQL?

Question

What\'s the difference between

SELECT foo FROM bar WHERE foobar=\'$foo\'

AND

SELECT foo FROM bar WHERE foobar LIKE\'$foo\'         


        

Answer 1

LIKE can do wildcard matching:

SELECT foo FROM bar WHERE foobar LIKE "Foo%"

If you don't need pattern matching, then use = instead of LIKE. It's faster and more secure. (You are using parameterized queries, right?)