What is the difference between CHAR and VARCHAR?

SQL SELECT, filtering and sorting · Freshers and experienced

Model answer

CHAR(n) is fixed length and pads with spaces. VARCHAR(n) is variable length up to n. Use VARCHAR for most text. In some databases (PostgreSQL) TEXT is equivalent in performance.

Learn this topic

SELECT, FROM and WHERE: Your First Queries in the course SQL for Beginners: Learn Databases Step by Step.

Sign in to add your own answer.

More questions

• How do you select specific columns and filter rows?
• How do you combine conditions in WHERE?
• What does LIKE do, and what are % and _?
• How do you sort and limit results?
• What does DISTINCT do?
• What is an alias?