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A Beginner’s Guide to MySQL Character Sets and Collations

MySQL databases rely on character sets and collations to manage text. This guide introduces their core concepts and provides practical advice for selecting the right options for your data.

Character sets and collations explained

A character set defines the available characters (like letters, symbols, and emojis), while a collation determines how those characters are sorted and compared.

Character sets and collations

  • latin1, used for most Western European text.
  • utf8mb4, supports Unicode, ideal for multilingual data.
  • big5_bin, designed for Chinese text.

Different languages have unique sorting rules. For instance, English text is easy to sort alphabetically, but other languages have distinct rules for characters like "ñ" or "é".

How to choose a character set and collation

When choosing a character set and collation, ask yourself:

  1. What language will the data use?
  2. Is the data multilingual?
  3. Will it be displayed to users in specific countries?

utf8mb4 is a safe option for multilingual support as it covers Unicode characters, including emojis.

FAQ

What’s the best character set for general use?

utf8mb4, as it supports all Unicode characters and works for most languages.

How do I pick a character set for a specific language?

Look for collations in MySQL that include the name of the language you need support for, or use utf8mb4.

Can I change a table’s collation later?

Yes, but be cautious. Changing it may affect existing data, so always back up your data first.

What's the difference between utf8 and utf8mb4?

utf8mb4 supports 4 bytes per character, enabling support for emojis and additional Unicode characters.

Conclusion

MySQL character sets and collations play a key role in text storage and sorting. Knowing how to select the right ones ensures accurate data handling. For more on character sets, collations, and how they impact your database, read the article Character Sets vs. Collations in a MySQL Database Infrastructure.

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