number or word for ENUM field, MySQL

June 20th, 2008, 9:50 am

Hi everyone,

i just would like to know what better for performance
number or word variants for enum field in MySQL.

i mean

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enum('active','inactive','deleted','draft')

1.  
2. enum('active','inactive','deleted','draft')

or

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enum('0','1','2','3')

1.  
2. enum('0','1','2','3')

[joebert]

June 20th, 2008, 10:17 am

What ever one makes more sense for the situation.
I really doubt any difference in performance will outweigh the readability of any code working with the values.

June 20th, 2008, 10:55 am

in some cases for mysql easier to work with integer then with string

[spork]

June 20th, 2008, 11:10 am

Enums are essentially sets of integer constants that begin at 0 unless otherwise specified. The whole point of using enums is to give the constants meaningful names to use elsewhere. Giving them names that are simply textual representations of the numbers they represent kinda defeats the purpose.

[joebert]

June 20th, 2008, 1:34 pm

Here all this time I've been considering enums the switch statements of data types.

June 21st, 2008, 1:49 am

As i understood it easier to use text for father development =)
thanks a lot =)