Searching a MySQL database?

Can anyone tell me what I would use to query a MySQL database in a search? If the search field, was for example, a variable like "town", would the results page use something like this? : $sql = " SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE towns = \"$town\" "; I remember seeing someone post something like this: $sql = " SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE towns LIKE \"$town\" "; so if the search word is not EXACTLY like a row in the database, it may return results to partial words. Thanks in advance, James.