In an article written By Suqing Wang, eHow Contributor
SQL Server Vs. Oracle Data Types Database
While designing and defining tables in databases, it is important to find out the data type for each column in the data tables. A data type is an attribute which defines the type of data an object can retain: integer, string, data and time, etc. There are basically three main types: text, numbers and date/times. The data types are different, depending on the database management system (DBMS), the various types of which include SQL Server, Oracle and MySQL.
Other People Are Reading * How to Convert SQL to Oracle * Difference Between MS SQL and an Oracle Database 1. SQL Server Data Types * SQL Server offers a list of system data types which can be utilized to define various types of data within SQL Server. SQL Server data types are composed of string, binary, number, date and other types, such as sql_variant, xml and cursor. A user is also able to define his own data types in Transact-SQL or the Microsoft .NET framework. However, these user-defined data types are based on the existing system data types. User-defined types gain their characteristics from the methods of a class, which the user builds within the programming languages supported by the .NET framework.
Oracle Data Types * Each value manipulated by an Oracle database possesses a data type. The data type of a value links a selection of attributes to the value. These attributes of the value differentiate one data type from the others. Oracle treats certain data types in a distinct way. For instance, one can add values of NUMBER data type, but not values of RAW data type. When one builds a table or a cluster, one must assign data types for all its columns. In Oracle, the arguments of a procedure or stored function also need to be allocated data types. The data types specify the domain of values which
Cited: http://www.ehow.com/list_6961707_sql-vs_-oracle-data-types.html http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E10405_01/doc/appdev.120/e10379/ss_oracle_compared.htm