How can PHP developers handle cases where a search query does not have an exact match in the database?

When a search query does not have an exact match in the database, PHP developers can implement a fuzzy search algorithm to retrieve similar results based on similarity scores. This can be achieved by using functions like Levenshtein distance or soundex to compare the search query with database entries and return relevant results.

$searchQuery = "example";
$threshold = 0.8; // Adjust as needed

// Perform a fuzzy search using Levenshtein distance
$results = array();
foreach ($databaseEntries as $entry) {
    similar_text($searchQuery, $entry, $similarity);
    if ($similarity >= $threshold) {
        $results[] = $entry;
    }
}

// Display the results
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result . "<br>";
}