>Of the top of one's head, which SELECT is faster: ATC() or $
>
>Thanks, J
Since they both have to search within a character string, they should be approximately equal. Some differences have been reported in the past, but I suspect that the results have been skewed through buffering. You should be careful about this, when you do your own speed tests (the second test on the same data will be faster, because of buffering).
What is important to note is that none of the two can make use of Rushmore Optimization, i.e., use existing indices to optimize a query.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)
