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MS SQL Server 2000
I’ve realized that in the last couple of tables I’ve created, I’ve been defining the varchar length of columns by power of 2. So, I’ve got one column that is length 1024 or 512 or 256. I realized though that depending on the length of the other columns in the table, this probably doesn’t matter at all. Is there any sense in implementing this kind of design? I’m thinking No, but wanted to get your opinion.
I would say that size of the column should represent the type of data you are storing. If there is any speed benefit to it, it will be negligible, and the headaches you have with improper column lengths will far outweigh any thing gained.
The other thing that you have to keep in mind is that there is a maximum record length in Sql 2000. I think its something around 8192 bytes. If you are allocating fields in powers of 2 you are potentially adding length from one column that will be needed elsewhere. If your columns are small and there aren’t many per table, this won’t be an issue, but tables with large varchar fields (say around the 5000 range which means you’d have to allocate 8192 to follow the power of 2 convention) you are going to have to allocate much more space for that field than is needed, and it will quite possibly prevent you from adding other fields which are needed in that table as well.
You can break your rule for this scenario, but that means that you have stopped following the rule you have set. That can be ok, but it also means that when someone goes back and looks at the overall schema later, the question will arise as to why certain columns follow one set of rules for allocating space and others do not.