char vs int

Hi
Yesterday somebody told me that use char field like a primary key is more
faster than integer field when you run a query.
Is that True, any suggestions.
Thanks.
Pablo Salazar.
> Yesterday somebody told me that use char field like a primary key is more
> faster than integer field when you run a query.
It really depends. Size of CHAR key? Volume of data? I can certainly
create an example that shows a small table with a two-character primary key
and 99 rows that will respond to queries faster than a large table with an
integer primary key and 99,999 rows.
With everything being the same, I really doubt it will be faster.

> Is that True, any suggestions.
Test it! Since you know the size of data you'll be dealing with and the
type you'll need to create, you already have all the tools at your disposal
to answer your own question... and are much better equipped than us at
determining which is faster.
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
|||Although the OP should test it in his or her own envrionment, I have too
much time on my hands so I just did a very simplistic test of SELECT
COUNT(*) from an INNER JOIN of two tables with integer columns and two
tables with char(7) columns, each with 6436343 rows.
Integer returned results twice as fast as char(7) in this test. Note that
the char(7) could have been reduced to char(5) if I'd made up some scheme to
convert numbers to AAAAA for 1, AAAAB for 2, etc, but that's more work than
even I, with too much time on my hands, want to do for the sake of this
test...
So I would encourage the OP to place the burden of proof on whoever made the
suggestion...
"Aaron Bertrand [MVP]" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:O0b5Y7XIEHA.2300@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...[color=darkblue]
more
> It really depends. Size of CHAR key? Volume of data? I can certainly
> create an example that shows a small table with a two-character primary
key
> and 99 rows that will respond to queries faster than a large table with an
> integer primary key and 99,999 rows.
> With everything being the same, I really doubt it will be faster.
>
> Test it! Since you know the size of data you'll be dealing with and the
> type you'll need to create, you already have all the tools at your
disposal
> to answer your own question... and are much better equipped than us at
> determining which is faster.
> --
> Aaron Bertrand
> SQL Server MVP
> http://www.aspfaq.com/
>

char vs int

Hi
Yesterday somebody told me that use char field like a primary key is more
faster than integer field when you run a query.
Is that True, any suggestions.
Thanks.
Pablo Salazar.> Yesterday somebody told me that use char field like a primary key is more
> faster than integer field when you run a query.
It really depends. Size of CHAR key? Volume of data? I can certainly
create an example that shows a small table with a two-character primary key
and 99 rows that will respond to queries faster than a large table with an
integer primary key and 99,999 rows.
With everything being the same, I really doubt it will be faster.

> Is that True, any suggestions.
Test it! Since you know the size of data you'll be dealing with and the
type you'll need to create, you already have all the tools at your disposal
to answer your own question... and are much better equipped than us at
determining which is faster.
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/|||Although the OP should test it in his or her own envrionment, I have too
much time on my hands so I just did a very simplistic test of SELECT
COUNT(*) from an INNER JOIN of two tables with integer columns and two
tables with char(7) columns, each with 6436343 rows.
Integer returned results twice as fast as char(7) in this test. Note that
the char(7) could have been reduced to char(5) if I'd made up some scheme to
convert numbers to AAAAA for 1, AAAAB for 2, etc, but that's more work than
even I, with too much time on my hands, want to do for the sake of this
test...
So I would encourage the OP to place the burden of proof on whoever made the
suggestion...
"Aaron Bertrand [MVP]" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:O0b5Y7XIEHA.2300@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
more
> It really depends. Size of CHAR key? Volume of data? I can certainly
> create an example that shows a small table with a two-character primary
key
> and 99 rows that will respond to queries faster than a large table with an
> integer primary key and 99,999 rows.
> With everything being the same, I really doubt it will be faster.
>
> Test it! Since you know the size of data you'll be dealing with and the
> type you'll need to create, you already have all the tools at your
disposal
> to answer your own question... and are much better equipped than us at
> determining which is faster.
> --
> Aaron Bertrand
> SQL Server MVP
> http://www.aspfaq.com/
>