What are the main differences between NUMBER(p) and INTEGER for
storing integer values? Is there any difference with space or
performance?
I understand using NUMBER(p) with a value for Precision only (no
scale) gives you an integer, constrained by a max of p digits. Is
INTEGER the same as NUMBER(38), since 38 is the max precision?
I've also heard it said that Oracle Corp recommends, or once
recommended, using the NUMBER type with no precision or scale
specified; this way it accepts whatever type of number you throw at it
exactly as it is. I can see how this would be bad, e.g. if you intend
to hold only integers this would allow someone to enter floating point
numbers. Is it only good to use NUMBER with no P + S when you expect
floating point values, but don't know how many decimal places you
might need?
Also, these days, is there any real advantage to using something like
CHAR(5) vs. VARCHAR2(5) in terms of storage and performance? Seems
with CHAR, you'll always use 5 characters regardless of what you enter
(zeros padded when < 5 chars). But with VARCHAR2(5), you'll only store
as many characters as are entered.
What I'm really after--is there any advantage these days to using the
CHAR data type? Seems like VARCHAR2 offers more flexibility *if* the
length of values in a column may increase or decrease in the future,
where CHAR is best if one suspects there will always only be X
characters for values in a field. So is it a stylistic thing or a
domain thing in choosing one over the other?
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