Choosing appropriate data type

sophia · January 22nd, 2012, 04:05 AM

Hello Imar,

Although you have chosen int data type for all type of records, e.g. for Genre Id, you have chosen int data type. Which is not necessary for Genre record.

It makes the application development faster, but I still want to know that
Is it fine to choose int for any record?
Doesn't it take a little more processing time than tinyint, smallint?
Won't it waste database space unnecessarily?

Many thanks....

Imar · January 22nd, 2012, 05:38 AM

Hi there,

I prefer consistency over the optimal data type. That is, using ints everywhere makes your code a little easier to use. I doubt you'll be able to measure the performance difference between an int and a tinyint in an ASP.NET application.

But choose what works best for you; smaller datatypes indeed work for for tables like Genre.

Imar

sophia · January 22nd, 2012, 06:09 AM

Quote:

I prefer consistency

I too prefer and it is really headache to remember different data types all the time.

But what about space that the larger data type will take...

Imar · January 22nd, 2012, 06:17 AM

Again, that would typically not be an issue in most ASP.NET applications. An int versus the other types is 4 bytes versus 2 or 1. You do the math to calculate when that becomes a problem:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...v=sql.80).aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita...227379&sr=1-12

Cheers,

Imar

sophia · January 22nd, 2012, 06:42 AM

Thanks,

prior asking here I had asked the same here but they said for your data base life you should go for smallest data type.
(first 2 replies)

I was little confused so I ask here as I broadly follow your steps.

Why link to amazon???

Imar · January 22nd, 2012, 06:47 AM

>> but they said for your data base life you should go for smallest data type.

Yes, that's what you typically do, but as I said earlier, I prefer consistency over the smallest data type when size is not that relevant.

The link to Amazon is to show how cheap large hard drives are. Unless you're storing billions of records, the int versus tinyint is not, IMO, a relevant discussion on storage....

Imar

sophia · January 22nd, 2012, 06:57 AM

Ok fine, I will go to int.

Quote:

The link to Amazon is to show how cheap large hard drives are. Unless you're storing billions of records, the int versus tinyint is not, IMO, a relevant discussion on storage....

feel good to know that you too kid.

Thanks a lot