Jun 5, 2026 · Databases

Eliminate LIKE% in MySQL: Use Full‑Text Search for Efficient Fuzzy Queries

This article explains why using LIKE% for fuzzy searches in MySQL is inefficient, introduces InnoDB full‑text search (available since MySQL 5.6), describes inverted indexes, shows how to create and query full‑text indexes with natural language, boolean, and query‑expansion modes, discusses relevance calculation, stopwords, token‑size parameters, and provides the syntax for dropping full‑text indexes.

Boolean ModeFull-Text SearchInnoDB

0 likes · 12 min read

Eliminate LIKE% in MySQL: Use Full‑Text Search for Efficient Fuzzy Queries

Aikesheng Open Source Community

May 26, 2021 · Databases

Practical Guide to Using MySQL Full-Text Indexes

This article explains MySQL full‑text indexing, compares its syntax with ordinary SQL, demonstrates how to create and query a full‑text index using natural language, boolean, and query‑expansion modes, and shows performance differences through execution‑plan analysis and relevance ranking.

Boolean ModeFull-Text IndexMySQL

0 likes · 9 min read

Practical Guide to Using MySQL Full-Text Indexes

Natural Language Mode

Eliminate LIKE% in MySQL: Use Full‑Text Search for Efficient Fuzzy Queries

Practical Guide to Using MySQL Full-Text Indexes