SQL databases don't have a direct function to split strings like you might find in programming languages. Instead, you need to use string manipulation functions to achieve the desired result. This often involves extracting substrings based on delimiters (like commas or spaces) and potentially using loops or recursive CTEs (Common Table Expressions) for more complex scenarios. The best approach depends on the complexity of the splitting logic and the database system you're using. For simple splits, using SUBSTRING and CHARINDEX is sufficient. For more intricate scenarios, user-defined functions (UDFs) offer greater flexibility and maintainability. Understanding these techniques is crucial for working with data that needs to be parsed or processed based on string components.