Re: Performance: BigInt vs Decimal(19,0)

From: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: "Yusuf W(dot)" <unicef2k(at)yahoo(dot)com>
Cc: pgsql-performance(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: Performance: BigInt vs Decimal(19,0)
Date: 2003-09-28 00:26:09
Message-ID: 2125.1064708769@sss.pgh.pa.us
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"Yusuf W." <unicef2k(at)yahoo(dot)com> writes:
> For the application that I'm working on, we want to
> use data types that are database independent. (most
> databases has decimal, but not big int).

Most databases have bigint, I think.

> Anyhow, we are planning on using decimal(19,0) for our
> primary keys instead of a big int, would there be a
> performance difference in using a bigint over using decimals?

You'll be taking a very large performance hit, for very little benefit
that I can see. How hard could it be to change the column declarations
if you ever move to a database without bigint? There's not normally
much need for apps to be explicitly aware of the column type names.

regards, tom lane

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