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Understanding-Data-Types (1)

The document provides an overview of data types in MySQL, emphasizing their importance for data integrity, storage efficiency, and query performance. It categorizes data types into numeric, string, date and time, and other types, detailing their sizes, usage, and examples. Key considerations for selecting data types include storage space, performance, and data validation.

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Rio Manuel Valente
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0 views

Understanding-Data-Types (1)

The document provides an overview of data types in MySQL, emphasizing their importance for data integrity, storage efficiency, and query performance. It categorizes data types into numeric, string, date and time, and other types, detailing their sizes, usage, and examples. Key considerations for selecting data types include storage space, performance, and data validation.

Uploaded by

Rio Manuel Valente
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DBSYS 1 – Fundamentals of Database Systems

Understanding Data Types

Data types define the kind of data that can be stored in a column of a database table. Choosing the
right data type is crucial for:
• Data Integrity: Ensuring that only valid data is stored.
• Storage Efficiency: Using the minimum necessary space.
• Query Performance: Optimizing how data is retrieved.
Common Data Types in MySQL (phpMyAdmin)
Here's a breakdown of commonly used data types in MySQL, focusing on their sizes and usage:
1. Numeric Data Types:
• INT (Integer):
o Stores whole numbers (positive, negative, or zero).
o Sizes:
▪ TINYINT: 1 byte (-128 to 127 or 0 to 255 unsigned)
▪ SMALLINT: 2 bytes (-32768 to 32767 or 0 to 65535 unsigned)
▪ MEDIUMINT: 3 bytes (-8388608 to 8388607 or 0 to 16777215 unsigned)
▪ INT (or INTEGER): 4 bytes (-2147483648 to 2147483647 or 0 to 4294967295
unsigned)
▪ BIGINT: 8 bytes (-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 or 0 to
18446744073709551615 unsigned)
o Use: For storing counts, IDs, and other whole numbers.
• DECIMAL (or NUMERIC):
o Stores exact numeric values with a fixed precision and scale.
o Syntax: DECIMAL(precision, scale)
▪ precision: Total number of digits.
▪ scale: Number of digits after the decimal point.
o Use: For financial data or any data requiring exact precision.

Examples
DECIMAL(5, 2):
Precision: 5
Scale: 2
This means the number can have a total of 5 digits, with 2 of those digits after the
decimal point.

Examples of valid values:


123.45
-99.99
0.01

The range of values that could be stored would be from -999.99 to 999.99.

KENRICK AGUSTIN S. SECUGAL CCS MAIN #iaminfotech


DBSYS 1 – Fundamentals of Database Systems

DECIMAL(10, 3):
Precision: 10
Scale: 3
This means the number can have a total of 10 digits, with 3 of those digits after the
decimal point.

Example valid values:


1234567.890
-1234567.890
1.123
This allows for much larger numbers, and a more precise decimal value.

DECIMAL(3, 0):
Precision: 3
Scale: 0
This means that there will be a total of 3 digits, and none of those digits will be after
the decimal point. Therefore, this acts as an integer value.

Example Valid values:


123
-999
0

• FLOAT and DOUBLE:


o Stores approximate numeric values (floating-point numbers).
o FLOAT: Single-precision.
o DOUBLE (or REAL): Double-precision.
o Use: For scientific calculations or data where approximate values are acceptable.

2. String Data Types:


• VARCHAR:
o Stores variable-length strings.
o Syntax: VARCHAR(length) (length is the maximum number of characters).
o Use: For storing names, addresses, and other text data of varying lengths.
• CHAR:
o Stores fixed-length strings.
o Syntax: CHAR(length) (pads shorter strings with spaces).
o Use: For storing data with consistent lengths, like state abbreviations or postal
codes.
• TEXT:
o Stores large blocks of text.
o Sizes:
▪ TINYTEXT: Up to 255 bytes.

KENRICK AGUSTIN S. SECUGAL CCS MAIN #iaminfotech


DBSYS 1 – Fundamentals of Database Systems

▪ TEXT: Up to 65,535 bytes.


▪ MEDIUMTEXT: Up to 16,777,215 bytes.
▪ LONGTEXT: Up to 4,294,967,295 bytes (38MB)
o Use: For storing articles, descriptions, or other long text.

Key note:
The "VARCHAR(255)" limit is a historical convention that's still commonly seen, and
it's important to understand its origins and how it applies in modern MySQL.

Historical Context:

In older versions of MySQL (prior to 5.0.3), the maximum length for a VARCHAR
column was indeed 255 bytes. This limitation stemmed from how the length of the
variable-length string was stored internally.
Because of this historical limitation, developers commonly used VARCHAR(255) as
a standard. This practice has carried over, even though modern MySQL versions
have greatly expanded the maximum VARCHAR length.
Modern MySQL:

In modern MySQL versions (5.0.3 and later), the maximum length for a VARCHAR
column is 65,535 bytes.However, it's crucial to remember that this is a byte limit,
not a character limit. The number of characters that can be stored depends on the
character set used.

For example, with a single-byte character set like latin1, VARCHAR(255) can
store 255 characters.
With a multi-byte character set like utf8mb4, which can use up to 4 bytes
per character, VARCHAR(255) can store fewer characters.
Also the 65,535 byte limit is a row limit, so all of the columns in a given row,
must not total more than 65,535 bytes.

Why the Convention Persists:


• Habit and Compatibility: Many developers continue to use VARCHAR(255)
out of habit or to ensure compatibility with older systems.
• Reasonable Length: For many common data fields (like names, addresses,
or short descriptions), 255 characters is often sufficient.
• Indexing considerations: There can be indexing considerations, where very
long varchar fields can cause issues with index sizes.

Example:

Imagine you have a database table for storing customer information.


• You might define a column for "customer_name" as VARCHAR(255).

KENRICK AGUSTIN S. SECUGAL CCS MAIN #iaminfotech


DBSYS 1 – Fundamentals of Database Systems

• This would allow you to store customer names up to 255 characters long
(depending on the character set).

3. Date and Time Data Types:


• DATE:
o Stores dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
o Use: For storing birth dates, event dates, etc.
• TIME:
o Stores times in the format HH:MM:SS.
o Use: For storing times of day.
• DATETIME:
o Stores both dates and times in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
o Use: For storing timestamps of events.
• TIMESTAMP:
o Stores a timestamp representing the number of seconds since the Unix epoch
(January 1, 1970).
o Automatically updates when a row is modified.
o Use: For tracking when rows were last updated.
• YEAR:
o Stores year values.
o Use: Storing year values.
4. Other Data Types:
• BLOB (Binary Large Object):
o Stores binary data (images, audio, video).
o Sizes:
▪ TINYBLOB: Up to 255 bytes.
▪ BLOB: Up to 65,535 bytes.
▪ MEDIUMBLOB: Up to 16,777,215 bytes.
▪ LONGBLOB: Up to 4,294,967,295 bytes.
o Use: Storing large files.
• ENUM:
o A string object that can have only one value, chosen from a list of possible values
that are enumerated explicitly in the column specification at table creation time.
o Use: Storing set values, for example, small, medium, large.
• SET:
o A string object that can have zero or more values, each of which must be chosen
from a list of possible values that are enumerated explicitly in the column
specification at table creation time.
o use: Storing multiple set values, for example, hobbies.

KENRICK AGUSTIN S. SECUGAL CCS MAIN #iaminfotech


DBSYS 1 – Fundamentals of Database Systems

Key Considerations:
• Storage Space: Choose the smallest data type that can accommodate your data to save
storage space.
• Performance: Using appropriate data types can improve query performance.
• Data Validation: Data types help enforce data integrity by restricting the type of data that
can be stored.
• UNSIGNED: Many numeric datatypes can be declared as unsigned. This means that the
column will only store positive numbers and zero, effectively doubling the maximum
positive number that can be stored.

______________

References:

MySQL. (n.d.). MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual: Data Types. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/data-types.html

KENRICK AGUSTIN S. SECUGAL CCS MAIN #iaminfotech

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