Final answer:
The WHERE clause with LIKE/NOT LIKE is utilized in SQL to filter data by matching or excluding patterns. LIKE is used to include records that match a specified pattern, while NOT LIKE excludes them. Wildcards like '%' are used within patterns to represent any sequence of characters.
Step-by-step explanation:
The WHERE clause with LIKE/NOT LIKE is used in SQL, the language for managing data in relational database management systems. It allows users to filter the data selected from databases by specifying patterns to include (LIKE) or exclude (NOT LIKE). For example, one might use the LIKE operator to find all the records where a column contains the letter 'a' as follows: SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE '%a%'. Alternatively, you can use NOT LIKE to find records where the column does not contain the letter 'a': SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name NOT LIKE '%a%'. The percent sign (%) is used as a wildcard indicating any sequence of characters.