On Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 11:33:54AM -0700, Jessica Richard wrote:
> What is the difference between varchar and text for a string column?
> What is the benefit of using each one?
> Is text better than varchar performance wise?

>From the manual:

        Tip:  There are no performance differences between these
        three types, apart from the increased storage size when using
        the blank-padded type. While character(n) has performance
        advantages in some other database systems, it has no such
        advantages in PostgreSQL. In most situations text or
        character varying should be used instead.

Note that varchar(n) will have a performance effect, because on
insert or update you have to check to make sure the input doesn't
exceed the specified length.  

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan  | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I remember when computers were frustrating because they *did* exactly what 
you told them to.  That actually seems sort of quaint now.
                --J.D. Baldwin

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