--- On Wed, 12/29/10, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [DOCS] Words missing in the following txt
> To: "Leslie S Satenstein" <lsatenstein@yahoo.com>
> Cc: pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
> Date: Wednesday, December 29, 2010, 6:45 AM
> On Sun, Dec 26, 2010 at 8:28 PM,
> Leslie S Satenstein
> <lsatenstein@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> > In 8.1.1. Integer Types
> >
> > The ending sentence in the 2nd paragraph reads...
> >
> > The bigint type should only be used if the integer
> range is insufficient, because the latter is definitely
> faster.
> >
> > Integers are bigger or smaller, the sentence could
> read better if phrased as follows:
> >
> > Use regular integers for fast efficient execution. The
> bigint type should only be used if the integer range is
> insufficient.
>
> The original phrasing might be a little too cute in the
> sense that
> "the latter" could be taken to refer to "the integer range"
> rather
> than "the integer data type", but the intended meaning is
> pretty
> obvious in context. I think your revised phrasing is
> more negative
> about bigints than we actually want to be. I think
> bigints also
> provide fast, efficient execution (compare with, say,
> numeric) but
> they are not AS fast as integers.
>
> --
> Robert Haas
> EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>
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A good compromise is to perhaps consider the following.
The bigint type should only be used if the integer range is insufficient, because calculation with the latter is
definitelyfaster.