RE: CHAR vs VARCHAR

[Dana Powers]

> Given this, what is the reason to use VARCHARs instead of CHARs?
> 
> Given that the trailing spaces are removed when the value is retreived, I
> can only see the case where you want to store strings with trailing spaces
> as an instance where you would want to use VARCHAR.
Storage. If you have a field such as email address that -could- be very long,
but generally isnt, and is useless if truncated - you would need 255 chars.
Unless you are willing to waste a majority of that space in the general case,
you should use varchars.
Dana

> > >> The big difference is speed.  CHARs are hella faster than
> > VARCHARS.  By a
> > >> lot.  CHARs take up a bit more disk space.  It's disk space
> > vs. speed.  We
> > >> choose speed for our applications.