Does MS SQL Server offer a Boolean data type like MySQL does?
I’m currently involved in a database project where I need to save true or false values in my SQL Server database. In MySQL, I usually employ the BOOLEAN data type for this task, but I’m curious if Microsoft SQL Server provides something similar.
I’ve been going through the documentation, but I can’t find a definitive answer on whether SQL Server features a built-in Boolean type. If it turns out that there isn’t one, what would be the recommended way to represent true/false values in SQL Server? Is it advisable to use another type, such as BIT or perhaps TINYINT?
Any advice on the best practices for handling Boolean values in MS SQL Server would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
SQL Server doesn’t have a native Boolean type, but BIT works perfectly as the replacement. I’ve migrated tons of MySQL databases and BIT handles true/false values just fine - it takes 0, 1, or NULL. The storage is super efficient too since SQL Server packs eight BIT columns into one byte. If you need strict true/false without NULL, add NOT NULL constraints. For queries, you can use WHERE is_active = 1 or just WHERE is_active for true values. Takes a bit of getting used to coming from MySQL, but the syntax feels natural pretty quickly.
yep, SQL Server lacks a true boolean type like MySQL. BIT is what you wanna use - it uses 0 for false and 1 for true. I’ve been doin this for a while, works great. no performance issues, trust me!
Wait, how does BIT handle null values in your project? I’m genuinely curious - I’ve seen weird behavior with three-state logic when nulls get mixed in. What constraints are you adding to enforce the boolean logic?