Data types in MySQL (e.g., INT, VARCHAR, TEXT, DATE)

MySQL, like many other database management systems, supports various data types to store different types of data efficiently. Here are some common data types in MySQL:

INT: Stands for "integer." It is used to store whole numbers, both positive and negative. You can specify the display width for INT, which affects the maximum and minimum values that can be stored. For example, INT(11) allows values from -2147483648 to 2147483647.

TINYINT: A smaller integer type, typically used for storing very small numbers, like flags or status indicators. It can store values from -128 to 127 or 0 to 255 depending on whether it's signed or unsigned.

SMALLINT: Similar to INT but with a smaller storage size. It can store values from -32768 to 32767 or 0 to 65535 depending on whether it's signed or unsigned.

BIGINT: Used for very large integer values. It can store values from -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 or 0 to 18446744073709551615 if unsigned.

DECIMAL: Used for exact numeric values, such as currency amounts, where precision is critical. You specify the precision and scale (number of decimal places) when defining DECIMAL columns.

FLOAT: Used for approximate numeric values with floating-point precision. FLOAT columns store floating-point numbers in a binary format.

DOUBLE: Similar to FLOAT but with double-precision accuracy. It is often used for scientific or engineering calculations that require high precision.

VARCHAR: Stands for "variable character." It is used to store variable-length character strings, such as names, descriptions, or text data. You specify a maximum length for VARCHAR columns.

CHAR: Stands for "character." It is used to store fixed-length character strings. CHAR columns always use the specified length, padding with spaces if necessary.

TEXT: Used to store large text data, such as long descriptions, articles, or documents. TEXT columns can hold a large amount of text.

DATE: Used to store date values in the format 'YYYY-MM-DD.' It can store dates ranging from '1000-01-01' to '9999-12-31.'

TIME: Used to store time values in the format 'HH:MM:SS.' It can represent times from '-838:59:59' to '838:59:59.'

DATETIME: Combines date and time values in the format 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.' It can represent a wide range of date and time combinations.

TIMESTAMP: Similar to DATETIME but with a narrower range (from '1970-01-01 00:00:01' UTC to '2038-01-19 03:14:07' UTC). TIMESTAMP columns are often used for recording timestamps of data modifications.

ENUM: Used to store one of a predefined list of values. You specify the allowed values when defining ENUM columns.

SET: Similar to ENUM but allows storing multiple values from a predefined list as a set.

These are some of the most commonly used data types in MySQL, but there are additional data types and variations available to handle different data requirements and optimization needs. When designing a database schema, it's important to choose the appropriate data type for each column to ensure data accuracy, storage efficiency, and query performance.

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