SQL Server - Difference between varchar and nvarchar data type
- How varchar & nvarchar datatypes are similar?
- Both data type was used to store text/string data in them
- The amount of space that both use depends on the size of the data that we are putting in it. It grows with every character that you store
Storage capability :
- Varchar stores data at 1 byte per character.
- Nvarchar stores data at 2 bytes per character.
Example :
- declare @wikitechy varchar(100) - > 100 bytes to store
- declare @wikitechy nvarchar(100) - > 200 bytes to store
Max capability :
- Varchar supports up to 2GB (max data type) characters.
- Nvarchar only supports up to 4000 characters.
Example :
- declare @wikitechy varchar(8000) - > max 8000 accepted in this.
- declare @wikitechy varchar(max) - > max allocates maximum of 2GB of data now
- declare @wikitechy nvarchar(4000) - > 200 bytes to store
Unicode capability :
- Nvarchar supports Unicode character to store.
For example, Japanese character are Unicode characters which we can store as nvarchar datatype.
- Varchar supports non-unicode character to store.
For example: English language are non-Unicode characters.
Applies to sqlserver version :
- SQL Server 7.0 OLAP Tools
- SQL Server 2000 64-bit Edition
Related Tags :
- Sql ServerDifference Between VARCHAR and NVARCHAR Data Type
