It depends on who you talk to and what you want to do. varchar will use less disk space, but char is faster to access (except for InnoDB tables, where varchar has the advantage). The benefit is using char is that the rows have a fixed length so MySQL knows exactly where each row starts and can find it easier when searching on an index. But, if you have just 1 dynamic field (like a varchar), then you might as well have them all varchars, because the row length is no longer fixed.
On Wednesday, April 10, 2002, at 08:18 AM, Luke van Blerk wrote: > Hi everyone, > > When is it appropriate to use Char instead of Varchar and vice versa? > > Thanks > Luke David Felio Software Developer Information Network of Arkansas http://www.AccessArkansas.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
