[ic] upgrade to mySQL successful -- opinions requested

[Grant]

> behalf of; Grant [listbox at email.com] wrote:
> > I've finished upgrading to mySQL and it seems pretty cool.  I'm
> > messing around with the *.sql files in the dbconf/mysql directory and
> > it looks like if there aren't any COLUMN_DEF field definitions in a
> > table's file, IC just sets the fields with default definitions.  I'm
> > just wondering if there's any reason to set up those COLUMN_DEFs for
> > new fields if the defaults will work OK.  It's just that I'm totally
> > new to SQL, and I want to make sure I'm not blowing it by not
> > defining the field specifics.  Any advice is much appreciated.
> >
> > - Grant
>
> I believe the default is an unindexed VARCHAR(255). Varchar is a good all
> around type. However space can be saved by optimizing you columns
> defs. A good
> example is say INT. If I have a the value of 2147483647 in an UNSIGNED INT
> column, it takes up 4 bytes of space. In a varcahr column it
> takes up 11 bytes.
>
> Also, it may behoove you to index columns. If you have queries that are
> selecting all ebay_transactions where user_id = '123', then the
> user_id column
> should be indexed for efficiency... stuff like that.
>
> http://www.mysql.com/documentation/index.html
>
> http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Column_types.html
>
> Read up on data types, as they are there to help you. You can
> subscribe to a
> Mysql list, although when I was a member of one of the lists, it
> was wild wild
> west... top posting nightmare.
>
>
> HTH
> Paul

Ok, so it's for optimization then.  Very good to know.  Thanks Paul!

- Grant