What are the Maximum Storage Limits of MySQL's TEXT Data Types?

Storage Limits for Text Data Types in MySQL

MySQL offers four TEXT data types for storing textual data: TINYTEXT, TEXT, MEDIUMTEXT, and LONGTEXT. Understanding their maximum storage capacities is crucial for efficient database management.

Maximum Storage Sizes

Assuming a UTF-8 character encoding, the maximum length for each text data type is as follows:

• TINYTEXT: 255 bytes
• TEXT: 65,535 bytes (64 KiB)
• MEDIUMTEXT: 16,777,215 bytes (16 MiB)
• LONGTEXT: 4,294,967,295 bytes (4 GiB)

Character Encoding Considerations

It's important to note that the actual number of characters that can be stored in each data type depends on the character encoding used. UTF-8, for example, uses a variable-width encoding, where characters can occupy 1 to 4 bytes.

Therefore, a column with a maximum storage size of 255 bytes in TINYTEXT may not be able to accommodate 255 characters in UTF-8 encoding. This is because some characters in UTF-8 may occupy multiple bytes.

By understanding these storage limits and considering the character encoding, developers can ensure that they choose the appropriate text data type for their specific requirements and optimize database storage.

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