CODEWITHSUNDEEP
mysqlbooleantinyint
Yasin Ergul
Yasin Ergul

Reputation: 452

enum('yes', 'no') vs tinyint -- which one to use?

What's the best practice for fields that hold true/false values?

Such columns can be defined as enum('yes','no') or as tinyint(1). Is one better/faster than the other?

Is it better to use enum('1','0') vs. enum('yes','no') (i.e., does it write 'yes' or 'no' as a string to every row so the database storage size gets bigger)?

Upvotes: 18

Views: 10314

Answers (3)

Haim Evgi
Haim Evgi

Reputation: 125486

avoid enum from this reasons

The bottom line is that ENUM has its place, but should be used sparingly. The model should enforce the constraints, not the database; the model should handle interpreting raw data into useful information for your views, not the database.

Upvotes: 15

Jon
Jon

Reputation: 437366

Also, ENUM is a non-standard MySql extension. You should avoid it, especially if you can achieve the same results in a standard way.

Upvotes: 11

Michal M
Michal M

Reputation: 9480

BOOLEAN type is there for a reason. It is indeed a TINYINT(1) but since it's there, it must be the recommended way.

Upvotes: 12

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