SQL: Why is varchar(50) the default?

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/828751

  •  06-07-2019
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Question

When I create a new VARCHAR column in Microsoft SQL Server Manager Studio, it defaults to 50 length. Does this length have some special meaning? If theoretically I have the option to choose for a length between 30 and 70, is isn't it better to go for defaults that are power of 2 (like 32, or 64 in this case)?

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Solution

Because its a nice small round number... Seriously I would think that its pretty arbitrary decision that was made.

OTHER TIPS

Powers of 2 are meaningless when it comes to the possible lengths of strings.

It's more efficient if string datatypes of fewer than 50 characters are declared as CHAR() rather than VARCHAR()

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