Spark: Data Types - Rajanand

Data Type	Example	Use Case	When to Use	Range of Values
ByteType	`1, 127, -128`	Small integers, memory efficiency is key	Small datasets like age, small integer IDs, counters	-128 to 127
ShortType	`100, 32767, -100`	Slightly larger integers	Small integer IDs, counters where ByteType’s range is insufficient	-32768 to 32767
IntegerType	`1000, 2147483647`	Most common integers	Default for integers unless larger range or memory efficiency is paramount	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
LongType	`1e9, 9223372036854775807`	Very large integers	Timestamps (milliseconds), large IDs, counters	-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
FloatType	`3.14, -2.718`	Single-precision floating-point numbers	Floating-point numbers where memory efficiency is a concern, scientific data	Approximately ±3.4 × 10⁻³⁸ to ±3.4 × 10³⁸
DoubleType	`3.14159, -2.71828`	Double-precision floating-point numbers	Default for floating-point numbers, higher precision needed	Approximately ±4.9 × 10⁻³²⁴ to ±1.8 × 10³⁰⁸
DecimalType	`123.45, 0.0001`	Arbitrary-precision decimal numbers	High precision for financial/scientific calculations	Arbitrary precision (defined by precision and scale)
StringType	`'hello', 'world'`	Text data	Any textual information	Variable length, limited only by available memory
BooleanType	`true, false`	True/false values	Flags, indicators, binary choices	`true`, `false`
DateType	`2024-01-27`	Dates	Storing and manipulating dates	YYYY-MM-DD (date only)
TimestampType	`2024-01-27 10:00`	Dates and times	Storing and manipulating timestamps	YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss[.fffffffff] (date and time)
BinaryType	`b'data'`	Raw binary data	Images, audio, other non-textual binary data	Variable length, sequence of bytes
ArrayType	`[1,2,3]`	Lists/arrays of values	Single column storing multiple values	Variable length, all elements of the same type
MapType	`{'a':1, 'b':2}`	Key-value pairs	Storing structured data where each key maps to a value	Variable length, keys and values of the same type respectively
StructType	`{'name':'Bob'}`	Complex data structures	Storing nested/hierarchical data	Variable length, defined by the schema
YearMonthIntervalType
DayTimeIntervalType

Reference: Spark SQL Data Types

Compare Data Types in Spark with SQL Server

Spark Data Type	SQL Server Data Type	Notes
ByteType	`tinyint`	Direct equivalent.
ShortType	`smallint`	Direct equivalent.
IntegerType	`int`	Direct equivalent.
LongType	`bigint`	Direct equivalent.
FloatType	`real`	Direct equivalent.
DoubleType	`float`	Direct equivalent.
DecimalType	`decimal`, `numeric`	Requires matching precision and scale.
StringType	`varchar`, `nvarchar`, `char`, `nchar`	Choose based on length and character encoding (Unicode or not).
BooleanType	`bit`	Direct equivalent.
DateType	`date`	Direct equivalent.
TimestampType	`datetime2`, `datetimeoffset`	`datetime2` is generally preferred for better precision. `datetimeoffset` handles time zones.
BinaryType	`varbinary`, `binary`	Choose based on length.
ArrayType	`table` (with appropriate schema)	Requires creating a separate table to represent the array. No direct equivalent.
MapType	`table` (with appropriate schema)	Requires creating a separate table to represent the map. No direct equivalent.
StructType	`table` (with appropriate schema)	Requires creating a separate table to represent the struct. No direct equivalent.

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