what does this integer mean?

Question

hi people i am new at php and wondering what does int(4) mean in creating this table. thanks for helping.

CREATE TABLE mytable(
name VARCHAR (50),
age INT(4),
email VARCHAR (50)
);

Answer 1

The code you have posted is no PHP, but a SQL statement for creating a database table called mytable with three columns - name, age and email. The statement also has the date types of the different columns, so the database system can know how to store and retrieve them.

Int is a data type in the database - an integer (whole number).

What it means depends on the database you use - in SQL Server the 4 specifies the field precision. However, this will always be the size of an int in SQL Server. It can holdvalues between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.

If MySQL, it means the display width of the field.

Answer 2

If you are using MySQL, it is the display width of the integer. You can find this sort of information in the MySQL user manual:

For example, INT(4) specifies an INT with a display width of four digits.

Answer 3

It depends entirely on your RDBMS: there is no standard meaning. Most will simply ignore it, or treat it as a display hint (like MySQL).