How to Sort MySQL data by String Length: CHAR_LENGTH() vs. LENGTH()?

Retrieve MySQL Data Based on String Length

In MySQL, selecting data based on string length using the ORDER BY clause in conjunction with the string_length() function is a common approach. However, it's worth exploring an alternative function that provides similar functionality.

Alternative Function: CHAR_LENGTH()

The CHAR_LENGTH() function calculates the number of characters in a string. It's recommended over string_length() for its accuracy in handling multi-byte character sets. Unlike LENGTH() which counts bytes, CHAR_LENGTH() specifically determines the number of characters.

Example Usage:

The following query demonstrates how to use the CHAR_LENGTH() function:

<code class="sql">SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY CHAR_LENGTH(column);</code>

This query will return all rows from the specified table, ordered by the character length of the specified column. The rows with the shortest character length will appear first.

Note:

For multi-byte character sets, CHAR_LENGTH() is the preferred function for accurately gauging string length. LENGTH() may yield different results for multi-byte strings.

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