Having read http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/datatype-character.html I am puzzling over this issue: 1) Is there ever ANY reason to prefer "varchar(n)" to "text" as a column type? 2) For instance, if I know that a character-type column will never contain more than 300 characters, would I be better to define it as "varchar(300)" or as "text"? 3) What if, in practice that same column usually contains strings of no more than 10 characters (although I can't guarantee that it wouldn't explode up to 300 in the one-in-a-million case)? 4) On the other hand, what if a column systematically contains strings of 5 or fewer characters. Is it better to define it as "varchar(5)" or as "text"?
