SQL - Decimal(p,s) or Numeric(p,s)

About

DECIMAL and NUMERIC are sql datatype used to represent a fixed point notation (exact number)

numeric is generally functionally identical to decimal.

Example

With a DECIMAL(5,2):

• the number has:
  • a precision of 5
  • and a scale of 2
• you would be able to store any value with:
  • 5 digits
  • and 2 decimals.
• values can be stored in the range from -999.99 to 999.99.

The number 00123456.780 has:

• a precision of 8 (ie 12345678)
• and a scale of 2 (ie 78)

Syntax

NUMERIC(p, s)
DECIMAL(p, s)

where:

• p is the precision (the total number of significant digits)
• f is scale (the number of digits at the right side of the point)

Numeric vs Decimal

The Sql standard defined NUMERIC and DECIMAL in the following words:

• NUMERIC specifies the data type exact numeric, with the decimal precision and scale specified by the <precision> and <scale>.
• DECIMAL specifies the data type exact numeric, with the decimal scale specified by the <scale> and the implementation-defined decimal precision equal to or greater than the value of the specified <precision>.

Storage and range

Maximum storage sizes vary, based on the precision.

For a precision of 38, the range of value is <math>-10^{38 +1} </math> through <math>10^{38}</math>