Choosing the right MySQL data type is critical to performance and storage efficiency. Integer types should be selected reasonably based on the value range and storage space. For example, tinyint is suitable for the status field, int is suitable for most scenarios, and bigint is used for super large values; avoid waste caused by using bigint all, and the unsigned attribute can be used to expand the positive range. String types should be selected as needed, char is suitable for fixed-length fields, varchar is suitable for variable-length content, and text series is used for large text; avoid abuse of varchar(255), and should be optimized according to actual length. Date and time types include date, time, datetime and timestamp, where timestamp takes up less space and supports automatic updates, but datetime is more applicable; varchar or int should not be used to store time to avoid increasing query complexity. Reasonable selection of data types can improve database stability and performance, especially in large data volumes and high concurrency scenarios.
MySQL data types seem simple, but it is actually quite important to choose the right and use them well. You may just use int or varchar when you first started learning, but as the data volume becomes larger and the business logic becomes more complicated, you will find that it is easy to get stuck if you don’t understand the data type. For example, if you use varchar to save a date, it is easy to make mistakes when checking it slowly; or if the field length is too small, the insertion fails.

The following parts are the problems and choice suggestions that are often encountered in actual use.

How to choose integer type?
Common integer types in MySQL are tinyint, smallint, mediumint, int and bigint. Their differences are mainly the storage space and the value range.
- tinyint : 1 byte, suitable for status class fields (such as 0 means disabled, 1 means enabled)
- int : 4 bytes, which is sufficient in most cases
- bigint : 8 bytes, only use when you need very large numbers
A common misunderstanding is "Int is enough anyway, why should I use tinyint?" In fact, after too many fields, tinyint can save a lot of space. For example, there are millions of records in the user table, and each field saves 1 byte, which is a difference of dozens of MB or even hundreds of MB in total.

Tips:
- If the field value does not have a negative number, you can add the unsigned attribute so that the maximum value will double
- Don't just use bigint for "insurance", unless you really need it
Don't use string types randomly
Commonly used string types include char, varchar, text series.
- char(N) : Fixed length, suitable for fields with similar lengths, such as mobile phone number and ID number, several digits behind
- varchar(N) : Change length, suitable for fields with large changes in content length, such as username and title
- text / longtext : suitable for large paragraphs of text, such as the main text of the article and the content of the log
Many people are used to using varchar(255) no matter what field, but this approach is not efficient enough. For example, for a status field that only needs to store Y/N, using char(1) is enough, and the query is faster.
Practical examples:
- The user name field is generally set to varchar(50)
- You can use varchar(100) for email address
- Password hash is usually char(60), because the encrypted string length is fixed
Pay attention to accuracy in date and time types
MySQL has several commonly used time-related types: date, time, datetime and timestamp.
- date : only dates are saved, format YYYY-MM-DD
- datetime : datetime, larger range, suitable for long-term storage time point
- timestamp : The automatic update function is very practical and is often used to record creation time and modification time.
One easy to confuse is the difference between datetime and timestamp. timestamp takes up less space (4 bytes vs 8 bytes of datetime), but it can only represent some point in time from 1970 to 2038. If you are working in a financial system or a historical data system, datetime will be more secure.
Tips for use:
- The creation time is usually set to default current_timestamp
- The modification time can be automatically updated with on update current_timestamp
- Don't use varchar or int to save time. Although it may be convenient sometimes, it is troublesome to deal with it later.
Basically that's it. If you choose the data type well, the database will run steadily. Some details may seem trivial, but in high concurrency or large data volume scenarios, the impact will be amplified. It takes a few more minutes to think clearly when building a table, which is much easier than later changing the structure.
The above is the detailed content of mysql tutorial on understanding data types. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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