Difference between 'character set' and 'default character set'

Question

Is there any difference between statements

ALTER TABLE xxx DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8

and

ALTER TABLE xxx CHARACTER SET utf8 ?

MySQL documentation keeps silence about functionality of DEFAULT keyword.

Answer 1

There is no difference. DEFAULT is an optional keyword.

See: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/charset-table.html.

Optional keywords that don't do anything are quite common in SQL, for example INSERT INTO is the same as just INSERT. It’s a question of style whether you include optional keywords. They don't have any effect on the function of the query, but they might make it more readable.