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Asked: 2026-05-26T17:55:10+00:00

Sometimes I am not sure whether using enum or char(1) in MysQL. For instance,

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Sometimes I am not sure whether using enum or char(1) in MysQL. For instance, I store statuses of posts. Normally, I only need Active or Passive values in status field. I have two options:

// CHAR
status char(1);

// ENUM (but too limited)
status enum('A', 'P');

What about if I want to add one more status type (ie. Hidden) in the future? If I have small data, it won’t be an issue. But if i have too large data, so editing ENUM type will be problem, i think.

So what’s your advice if we also think about MySQL performance? Which way I would go?

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  1. Editorial Team

    Neither. You’d typically use tinyint with a lookup table

    • char(1) will be slightly slower because comparing uses collation

    • confusion: As you extend to more than A and P

    • using a letter limits you as you add more types. See last point.

    • every system I’ve seen has more then one client eg reporting. A and P have to resolved to Active and Passive for in each client code

    • extendibility: add one more type (“S” for “Suspended”) you can one row to a lookup table or change a lot of code and constraints. And your client code too

    • maintenance: logic is in 3 places: database constraint, database code and client code. With a lookup and foreign key, it can be in one place

    • Enum is not portable

    On the plus side of using a single letter or Enum

    Note: there is a related DBA.SE MySQL question about Enums. The recommendation is to use a lookup table there too.

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