The utf8mb4 character set is the new default as of MySQL 8.0, and this change neither affects existing data nor forces any upgrades. By Sveta Smirnova.
One more issue you can hit after converting to the utf8mb4 character set is an increased size of the implicit temporary tables that MySQL creates to resolve queries. Since utf8mb4 may store more data than other character sets, the column size of such implicit tables will also be bigger. The article then describes the things to consider:
- Storage requirements
- Maximum Length of the Column
- Index Storage Requirement
- Temporary Tables
Converting to the utf8mb4 character set brings you the advantages of better performance, a larger range of characters that you can use, including emojis and new collations (sorting rules). This conversion comes at almost no price, and it can be done smoothly. Nice one!
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