# `STARTS_WITH`

**Applies to:** ✅ Data 360 SQL ✅ Tableau Hyper API

Returns `true` if a string starts with a specified prefix.

## Syntax

```sql
starts_with(<string>, <prefix>)
```

## Arguments

### Required

- `<string>`: The string to check.
- `<prefix>`: The prefix to look for.

## Returns

Returns a boolean value that indicates whether the string starts with the prefix.

## Considerations

- Comparison is case-sensitive.
- An empty prefix returns true for any string.

## Examples

### Check Prefix

Check whether a string starts with a prefix.

```sql
SELECT starts_with('alphabet', 'alph') AS result;
```

Returns `true`.

## Related Documentation

- [String Types](/docs/data/data-cloud-query-guide/references/dc-sql-reference/string.md)