What is BLOB and TEXT in My SQL?

In MySQL, both BLOB and TEXT are data types designed for storing large volumes of data, though they exhibit specific use cases and storage mechanisms.

BLOB (Binary Large Object)

BLOB is used for storing substantial binary data, primarily for non-text content such as images, audio, or video files. BLOB types do not perform character set conversion, making them ideal for binary data storage.

BLOB types include:

• TINYBLOB: Maximum length of 255 bytes.
• BLOB: Maximum length of 65,535 bytes (65KB).
• MEDIUMBLOB: Maximum length of 16,777,215 bytes (16MB).
• LONGBLOB: Maximum length of 4,294,967,295 bytes (4GB).

TEXT

TEXT is used for storing large amounts of textual data. Unlike BLOB, TEXT data undergoes character set conversion, making it suitable for textual information such as articles or descriptions.

TEXT types include:

• TINYTEXT: Maximum length of 255 characters.
• TEXT: Maximum length of 65,535 characters (65KB).
• MEDIUMTEXT: Maximum length of 16,777,215 characters (16MB).
• LONGTEXT: Maximum length of 4,294,967,295 characters (4GB).

Key Differences

• Data Type: BLOB stores binary data without character set conversion, while TEXT stores textual data with character set conversion.
• Usage Scenarios:
  • BLOB: Used for storing items such as software installation packages or multimedia files.
  • TEXT: Used for storing items such as news articles, user comments, or email content.

Example Scenario

Consider a blog platform development scenario requiring storage of user-uploaded articles and accompanying images.

• Article content can be stored using MEDIUMTEXT as it is primarily textual and may be lengthy.
• Images should be stored using MEDIUMBLOB as they are binary data and do not require character set conversion.

By appropriately utilizing BLOB and TEXT types, diverse large data volumes can be efficiently managed and stored, ensuring data accuracy and performance.