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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-14T06:41:04+00:00

I have a database that uses codes. Each code can be anywhere from two

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I have a database that uses codes. Each code can be anywhere from two characters to ten characters long.

In MS SQL Server, is it better for performance to use char(10) for these codes and RTRIM them as they come in, or should I use varchar(10) and not have to worry about trimming the extra whitespace? I need to get rid of the whitespace because the codes will then be used in application logic for comparisons and what not.

As for the average code length, hard to tell exactly. Assume all codes are a random length between one and ten. Edit: A rough estimation is about 4.7 characters for the average length of a code.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I’d vote for varchar.

    I say varchar to avoid the TRIM which would invalidate index usage (unless you use a computed column etc which defeats the purpose, no?).

    Otherwise at length 10, it would be 50/50 but TRIM tips the balance towards varchar and wins out over the fixed length benefit

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