DIFFERENCE
DIFFERENCE is a SQL function used primarily in the SOUNDDEX system. It compares two SOUNDEX values and returns an integer that represents how similar the values are, ranging from 0 to 4. The larger the difference, the less similar the values are.
Example
SELECT DIFFERENCE('test', 'tost')
Output
2
Explanation
The DIFFERENCE function returns an integer that represents the difference between the SOUNDEX values of two strings. In the example, the difference between ‘test’ and ‘tost’ is 2, indicating a moderate match according to the SOUNDEX system. This function is useful for comparing the similarity of words based on their phonetic sounds.