Question

I use tinyint (1) for fields which contain either 1 or 0, for xample, is_active. I can use enum (‘1′,’0’) instead but not sure which cases I should use enum or tinyint. Any comments/suggetion?

Thanks

Js

Answer 1

In your case both enum and tinyint will have the same size (i.e. 1 byte). However, the enum option is less flexible if your data changes. So use it if you’re absolutely sure your data definition will not change (eg. what if you will you be adding a 'disabled' state in the future?).

If you decide to stick with the enum a definition like enum('active', 'not_active') is more practical.