differences between varchar and nvarchar?

Question

Iftikar Hussain · Answer

Hi, Here it is nvarchar can store Unicode characters where varchar cannot store Unicode characters. varchar DataType Varchar means variable characters and it is used to store non-unicode characters. It will allocate the memory based on number characters inserted. Suppose if we declared varchar(50) it will allocates memory of 0 characters at the time of declaration. Once we declare varchar(50) and insert only 10 characters of word it will allocate memory for only 10 characters. nvarchar DataType nvarchar datatype same as varchar datatype but only difference nvarchar is used to store Unicode characters and it allows you to store multiple languages in database. nvarchar datatype will take twice as much space to store extended set of characters as required by other languages. So if we are not using other languages then it's better to use varchar datatype instead of nvarchar Regards, Iftikar

Jignesh Trivedi · Answer

hi, nVarchar datatype can hold any unicode data whereas varchar is restricated to 8 bit code page. In nvarchar, Database collation dependents for comparision whereas in varchar database collation determine which code page the dat is storing. Please refer http://www.mindstick.com/Blog/479/Difference%20between%20char%20var hope this will help you.

Sanjeeb Lenka · Answer

Refer to this link http://sqlhints.com/2011/12/23/difference-between-varchar-and-nvarchar/