Prefix matching is a technique used in computer science and information retrieval to find items that start with a specific sequence of characters. For example, if you search for the prefix "pre," the system will return results like "prefix," "prepare," and "presentation." This method is efficient for quickly narrowing down large datasets. In many applications, such as search engines and databases, prefix matching helps improve user experience by providing relevant suggestions as users type. It is commonly used in autocomplete features, where the system predicts and displays possible completions based on the initial characters entered by the user.