title: Difference between _%_% and __% in sql server
body: <p>I am learning basics of SQL through <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">W3School</a> and during understanding basics of <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_wildcards.asp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wildcards</a> I went through the following query:</p>
  
  <pre><code>--Finds any values that start with "a" and are at least 3 characters in length
  WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a_%_%'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>as per the example following query will search the table where <code>CustomerName</code> column start with 'a' and have at least 3 characters in length.</p>
  
  <p>However, I try the following query also:</p>
  
  <pre><code>WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a__%'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The above query also gives me the exact same result.
  I want to know whether there is any difference in both queries? Does the second query produce a different output in some specific scenario? If yes what will be that scenario?</p>