Difference between VARCHAR and CHAR

gvel19 · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:14 pm

Hi,

We know that VARCHAR is a variable char and CHAR is a fixed char. If I declare CHAR(50) then 50 bytes will be allocated and used.
If I declare VARCHAR(50) and I'm giving the length as 10. Then only 10 bytes will be allocated and used.

Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Thanks,
Vel

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:06 pm

according to the documentation, your interpretation is correct.

Bill Dennis · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:01 pm

VARCHAR does use two extra bytes to indicate the actual length, so 12 bytes would be used.