How does character varying work in PostgreSQL?
- PostgreSQL’s CHARACTER VARYING or VARCHAR data type stores variable-length character strings.
- It has a maximum length limit of ‘n’ but adjusts storage based on the actual text length, saving memory.
- This data type is ideal for storing text data like names or descriptions that vary in length without wasting storage space
Syntax:
column_name CHARACTER VARYING(n)
or
column_name VARCHAR(n)
Where ‘n’ is the number of maximum characters that can be stored in a column.
CHARACTER VARYING vs VARCHAR in PostgreSQL
In PostgreSQL, the terms CHARACTER VARYING and VARCHAR are often used interchangeably, but are they truly the same? In this article, We will understand these data types to clarify their similarities and differences. We’ll explore how they work, their syntax, and examples of their usage in PostgreSQL.