13. VARCHAR vs NVARCHAR

In SQL Server, VARCHAR and NVARCHAR are used to store text data. The main difference is how they store characters and support languages.

1. What is VARCHAR?

VARCHAR stores non-Unicode characters. It is mainly used for English or single-language data.

• Uses 1 byte per character
• Stores English text
• Saves storage space

Name VARCHAR(50)

2. What is NVARCHAR?

NVARCHAR stores Unicode characters. It supports multiple languages.

• Uses 2 bytes per character
• Supports all languages
• Used for international applications

Name NVARCHAR(50)

3. Key Differences

Feature	VARCHAR	NVARCHAR
Storage	1 byte	2 bytes
Language	Single	Multiple

4. Insert Example

INSERT INTO Students (Name)
VALUES ('Ravi');      

INSERT INTO Students (Name)
VALUES (N'रवि');     

5. GET LENGTH Example

Use LEN() to get character count and DATALENGTH() to get storage size.

DECLARE @v VARCHAR(10) = 'Ravi';
DECLARE @n NVARCHAR(10) = N'Ravi';

SELECT 
LEN(@v) AS Varchar_Length,
DATALENGTH(@v) AS Varchar_Bytes,
LEN(@n) AS NVarchar_Length,
DATALENGTH(@n) AS NVarchar_Bytes;

Result:

Type	LEN()	DATALENGTH()
VARCHAR	4	4 bytes
NVARCHAR	4	8 bytes

Conclusion

VARCHAR saves space, while NVARCHAR supports multiple languages. Use LEN() for length and DATALENGTH() for actual storage size.

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