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Are there reasons for not storing boolean values in SQL as bit data types without NULL? I see them often stored as integers without constraints to limit values to 0 and 1, and as strings with things like T/F, True/False, yes/no, etc., again without constraints. Isn't it better to store them as bits and not have to worry about additional constraints? What am I missing here?
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SQL Server BooleanThere is no boolean data type in SQL Server. However, a common option is to use the BIT data type. A BIT data type is used to store bit values from 1 to 64. So, a BIT field can be used for booleans, providing 1 for TRUE and 0 for FALSE.
However, there is a data type called bit that can be used to store Boolean values.
There is boolean data type in SQL Server. Its values can be TRUE , FALSE or UNKNOWN . However, the boolean data type is only the result of a boolean expression containing some combination of comparison operators (e.g. = , <> , < , >= ) or logical operators (e.g. AND , OR , IN , EXISTS ).
Boolean variables are stored as 16-bit (2-byte) numbers, but they can only be True or False. Boolean variables display as either: True or False (when Print is used), or. #TRUE# or #FALSE# (when Write # is used).
I'd always stick with the smallest data type I can to store this.
Edit: Oracle's BOOLEAN is PL/SQL only, not table definition. Updated answer to reflect this.
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