Introduction to PostgreSQL Data Types
The database of any system has been considered as the base that stores every detail of the system. All the application that operates using the data must have a database where all of the application related data are stored. As we know that the data has been considered a very crucial part of any system, there must exist some platform that can help in processing and managing the data. Here in this article, we are going to learn about the data types of the database management system called PostgreSQL. As the database is concerned about the data, there are various kinds of data that can be stored in the database. Here we will see the kinds of data that can be stored or worked with, using PostgreSQL.
PostgreSQL Data Types
The data type may be defined as a kind of data. In simple terms, the variable that is assigned with one of the data types can store the value of that data type only. For instance, if any variable is supposed to store the integer values only then in all the cases it will store the integer value only. If the user tries to feed the value of different data types in that variable, it will lead to the error.
Below are some of the data types in PostgreSQL:-
- Boolean – Boolean is one of the data types supported by PostgreSQL. This data type can store two values only that are “True” and “False”. In usual cases, the Boolean values are used to verify if the statement is correct as when the statement is correct, it returns the true value else the value will be false. This data type is also used while decision making and based on either of the two values, the decision has to be taken by the program. Example – “True”, “False”
- Char Data Type – The char data type is used to store a single character value. It is usually preferred to be used at the place where it needs to store just a single character. In case if the user tries to put more than one character in this, it will lead to an error. The variable storing the char values occupies very little space of the storage. Example – ‘A’, ‘a’, ‘m’ etc
- Text Data Type – The variable with data type as the text is capable of storing the long string values. In all the cases where the length of the text that has to be stored is unknown, one can use the text data type. In other programming languages, there is the data type called string which is capable of holding the set of characters. In the same way, the text is present here to store the string or set of characters. Example – “Hello”, “Congrats” etc
- Varchar(n) Data Type – Varchar data type with some number written along with it denotes that it is capable of storing or holding only the number of characters that is written next to it. For example, if we write varchar(9), it means that the variable will only be able to hold the maximum of nice characters. Example – “ABCDEFGHI”, “Hello Hey”
- Integer Data Type – The variable defined with the integer data type can only store the integer value. The value must be the integer value else it will end up with throwing the error. For example, if a variable named i is supposed to store the integer value then it will hold the integer value only. Example – 1,200,459,354 etc
- Time Data Type – The time data type is assigned to the variable that is supposed to store only the time value. There should be some particular format of time that has to be stored in the time data type variable. It is one of the most important data types in PostgreSQL as it is used to keep track of the transactions. Example – 12:00:36, 01:06:56
- Interval Data Type – The variable that is assigned with the interval data type is capable to store a particular time interval. It is concerned about the time and can be used to estimate the time in several cases. In the database, it is sincerely observed that which transaction has taken place at what interval and this data type helps us to manage the intervals. Example – ‘7 months ago’, ‘2 year 5 hours 40 minutes’
- Array – The array is used to store the set of string or set of any values but the only restriction is, all the values in the array have to be of the same data type. Using the array makes the program ample convenient to be understood by everyone who was not the part while code was developed. Example – ARRAY [ 408)-589-5846′,'(408)-589-5555′ ]
- UUID Data Type – The UUID data type is used to store the Universally Unique Identifiers which are actually the values that are used throughout the program to uniquely identify anything. It is a special kind of data type that cannot be found in high-level programming languages. Example – 0e37df36-f698-11e6-8dd4–cb9ced3df976, a81bc81b-dead-4e5d-abff-90865d1e13b1
- JSON Data Type – The variable that is supposed to store the JSON values are assigned with the JSON data type. It is one of the most important data types used in PostgreSQL that is capable of holding the complex JSON data. Example – { “client”: “Doe”, “items”: {“product”: “Application”,”qty”: 7}}
Conclusion
The PostgreSQL database management can be considered very useful while used for any application that has to work with the data. It has been designed to work with several kinds of data types where all the data types hold its own importance. Also, in order to keep track of the time while the transactions are done, there is data types like time, date, interval, etc. are present. In some of the operating systems like Kali Linux, PostgreSQL is available inbuilt. It makes it very easy for the developers to integrate their application with the database and they can also use the different types of data types that have been made available in PostgreSQL.
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