From: Richard Heyes (richardphp.net)
Date: Wed Jan 07 2009 - 07:26:33 CST

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>>So where's the advantage of VARCHAR ?
>
> Less space on disc = less data retrieved from disc = faster data
> retrieval - sometimes. If you have small columns, a small number of
> rows, or both, then char columns may be faster. If you have large
> columns of varying actual length, lots of rows, or both, then varchar
> columns may be faster.

I still think a CHAR field would be faster than a VARCHAR because of
the fixed row length (assuming every thing else is fixed). Perhaps
someone from the MySQL list could clarify...?

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Richard Heyes

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