Setting DB as UTF-8

Databases
1

Should my MySQL database be set up as “UTF-8” ?? :-/

Why or why not?

Debbie

2

Hi,
If you want to store in your database texts with less common characters, or specific to other languages, it’s better to use UTF-8.

3

Doesn’t UTF-8 have a lot of “overhead” and like double the size of things?

Is it worth it?

I hate to make hasty decisions and regret things later, but I also have to be practical.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Debbie

4

Bandwidth and disk space are dirt cheap, so I really really wouldn’t worry about the extra bytes used by UTF-8.

Having said that, if you’re not planning (ever) to support foreign characters, then there’s no reason not to use latin-1.