Difference between Char, Varchar and Nvarchar in SQL

 Char

Ø  Char is fixed length character data 

Ø  Non-Unicode fixes Length character data type.

Ø  It takes fix length.

  

Ø  Optional Parameter n value can be from 1 to 8000.Can store maximum 8000 Non-Unicode characters.

Ø  If we know the fix size of the column then we use char. Like zip code is fix length.

 Varchar

Ø  Varchar is variable length character data.

Ø  Non-Unicode Variable Length character data type.

Ø  It takes 1 byte per character

  

Ø  Optional Parameter n value can be from 1 to 8000.Can store maximum 8000 Non-Unicode characters.

Ø  If we know that data to be stored in the column or variable doesn’t have any Unicode characters. then we use Varchar

Nvarchar

Ø  Nvarchar is for storing multi language characters 

Ø  Unicode Variable Length character data type. It can store both non-Unicode and Unicode (i.e. Hindi, Tamil etc) characters.

Ø  It takes 2 bytes per Unicode/Non-Unicode character.

  

Ø  Optional Parameter n value can be from 1 to 4000.Can store maximum 4000 Unicode/Non-Unicode characters

Ø  If we know that the data to be stored in the column or variable can have Unicode characters. Then we use Nvarchar