Is a blob more efficient than a varchar for data that can be ANY size?

Posted by BillyNair on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by BillyNair
Published on 2012-06-29T03:41:47Z Indexed on 2012/06/29 9:23 UTC
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mysql

When setting up a database I want to use the most efficient data type for potentially fairly long data. Currently my project is to store song titles and thoughts pertaining to that song. Some titles might be 5 characters or longer than 100 characters and the thoughts could run pretty long.

Is it more efficient to use a varchar set to 8000 or to use a blob? Is using a blob the same as a varchar, in that there is a set size it is allocated regardless of what it holds? or is it just a pointer and it doesn't really use much space on the table? Is there a certain set size of a blob in KB or is it expandable?

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