spaces in SQL entries

Question

Is it bad practice to have spaces in between words in SQL entries?

Food Table

id  name         descriptions
--  -----------  ------------
1   large pizza  very large

or do you need underscores?

So... if you're creating a database of old books and their full content, you'd use _ instead of spaces? To_be_or_not_to_be,_that_is_the_question doesn't look quite as nice and readable... — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented Mar 19, 2012 at 21:53

p.campbell · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-19 21:51:26Z

6

Data is data. Your RDBMS won't care about spaces in the values in its string/text/varchar columns.

answered Mar 19, 2012 at 21:51

p.campbell

101k70 gold badges264 silver badges326 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

p.campbell Over a year ago

Steve - Text is a type of data. If it makes more sense to you, feel free to edit my answer.

Ryan · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-19 21:52:18Z

0

It makes no real difference. Maybe some more typing when entering queries in remembering to place block quotes around field names (i.e. [your long fieldname]).

answered Mar 19, 2012 at 21:52

Ryan

28.4k10 gold badges58 silver badges83 bronze badges

1 Comment

Jens Schauder Over a year ago

I think the question was about the data not the field names

David · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-19 21:53:01Z

0

Spaces in the records aren't a concern at all. Quite the opposite. Adding underscores would only mean that the developer would have to replace them in code. (grumble)

Spaces in the column names can add extra overhead and grumbling for the developer accessing the data. (For example, in SQL Server, you need to enclose them in square brackets in sql statements.)

answered Mar 19, 2012 at 21:53

David

73.7k19 gold badges134 silver badges177 bronze badges

3 Comments

Apollo Over a year ago

so for field names (column names), one should always use the underscore?

David Over a year ago

It depends on the naming convention in your company, but your business will likely have their own standard to ensure consistency. If you're on your own it's up to you. I prefer CamelCase to for field names. (FirstName, LastName) instead of underscores (First_Name, Last_Name)

Apollo Over a year ago

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

spaces in SQL entries

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

1 Comment

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

1 Comment

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related