What is the significance of the size specification in TINYINT data types in MySQL?

Exploring the Differences Between Tinyint (2) and Tinyint (1) in MySQL

Within the realm of MySQL, the notion of boolean values has long been associated with the tinyint(1) data type. However, a recent encounter with a table featuring integer definitions such as tinyint(2) has prompted questions about the significance of the size specification in integer and tinyint data types.

The number following the data type, in this case (2), signifies the column's display width. Various MySQL applications, such as the MySQL client, utilize this information when presenting query results in a table format.

To illustrate, consider the following example:

v	a	b	c
1	1	1	1
10	10	10	10
100	100	100	100

In this example, columns a, b, and c are defined as TINYINT(1), TINYINT(2), and TINYINT(3), respectively. As you can observe, the values are left-padded with spaces to match the specified display width.

It is crucial to note that the display width does not impact the acceptable range of values for the given data type. For instance, TINYINT(1) continues to accept values within the range [-128 .. 127], regardless of its display width.

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