SQL Data Types

Data types are used to represent the nature of the data that can be stored in the database table. For example, in a particular column of a table, if we want to store a string type of data then we will have to declare a string data type of this column.

Data types mainly classified into three categories for every database.

• String Data types
• Numeric Data types
• Date and time Data types

Data Types in MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle Databases

MySQL Data Types

A list of data types used in MySQL database. This is based on MySQL 8.0.

MySQL String Data Types

 

CHAR(Size)	It is used to specify a fixed length string that can contain numbers, letters, and special characters. Its size can be 0 to 255 characters. Default is 1.
VARCHAR(Size)	It is used to specify a variable length string that can contain numbers, letters, and special characters. Its size can be from 0 to 65535 characters.
BINARY(Size)	It is equal to CHAR() but stores binary byte strings. Its size parameter specifies the column length in the bytes. Default is 1.
VARBINARY(Size)	It is equal to VARCHAR() but stores binary byte strings. Its size parameter specifies the maximum column length in bytes.
TEXT(Size)	It holds a string that can contain a maximum length of 255 characters.
TINYTEXT	It holds a string with a maximum length of 255 characters.
MEDIUMTEXT	It holds a string with a maximum length of 16,777,215.
LONGTEXT	It holds a string with a maximum length of 4,294,967,295 characters.
ENUM(val1, val2, val3,...)	It is used when a string object having only one value, chosen from a list of possible values. It contains 65535 values in an ENUM list. If you insert a value that is not in the list, a blank value will be inserted.
SET( val1,val2,val3,....)	It is used to specify a string that can have 0 or more values, chosen from a list of possible values. You can list up to 64 values at one time in a SET list.
BLOB(size)	It is used for BLOBs (Binary Large Objects). It can hold up to 65,535 bytes.