MySQL: Large VARCHAR vs. TEXT?

Question

I\'ve got a messages table in MySQL which records messages between users. Apart from the typical ids and message types (all integer types) I need to save the actual message

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I'm not a MySQL expert ... but this is my understanding of the issues.

I think TEXT is stored outside the mysql row, while I think VARCHAR is stored as part of the row. There is a maximum row length for mysql rows .. so you can limit how much other data you can store in a row by using the VARCHAR.

Also due to VARCHAR forming part of the row, I suspect that queries looking at that field will be slightly faster than those using a TEXT chunk.