MySQL Data Types: Numeric, Date, Text and Binary

Every MySQL column has a data type. The type determines what values the column can store, how MySQL interprets them, and how much storage or precision is available.

CREATE TABLE product (
    id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    price DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
    created_at DATETIME NOT NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY (id)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;

Main MySQL data-type groups

Group	Examples	Typical use
Numeric	INT, BIGINT, DECIMAL, FLOAT, DOUBLE	Counts, IDs, prices, measurements
Date & time	DATE, TIME, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP, YEAR	Dates, timestamps, durations
Character/text	CHAR, VARCHAR, TEXT	Names, descriptions, text
Binary	BINARY, VARBINARY, BLOB	Raw bytes and binary objects

Choose the narrowest type that correctly represents the values you need. For exact money-like values, prefer DECIMAL rather than approximate floating-point types.

All Data Types Numeric Types Date & Time Types BLOB

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

About the author Watch on YouTube

Connect:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel here

Data Types in MySQL

Main MySQL data-type groups

Subhendu Mohapatra