The fixed-point data type is DECIMAL. It is used to represent exact-value numbers that have an integer part, a fractional part, or both.
DECIMAL uses a fixed-decimal storage format: All values in a DECIMAL column have the same number of decimal places and are stored exactly as given when possible. DECIMAL values are not processed quite as efficiently as FLOAT or DOUBLE values (which use the processor’s native binary format), but DECIMAL values are not subject to rounding error, so they are more accurate. In other words, there is an accuracy versus speed tradeoff in choosing which type to use. For example, the DECIMAL data type is a popular choice for financial applications involving currency calculations, because accuracy is most important.
DECIMAL columns may be declared with a precision and scale to indicate the number of significant digits and the number of decimal places to the right of the decimal point. For example, if you want to represent values such as dollar-and-cents currency figures, you can do so using a two-digit scale:
```
cost DECIMAL(10,2)
```
The precision and scale can be omitted, or just the scale. The defaults for omitted precision and scale are 10 and 0, respectively, so the following declarations are equivalent:
```
total DECIMAL
total DECIMAL(10)
total DECIMAL(10,0)
```
The amount of storage required for DECIMAL column values depends on the precision and scale. Approximately four bytes are required per nine digits on each side of the decimal point.
The NUMERIC data type in MySQL is a synonym for DECIMAL . (If you declare a column as MySQL uses DECIMAL in the definition.) Standard SQL allows for a difference between the two types, but in MySQL they are the same. In standard SQL, the precision for NUMERIC must be exactly the number of digits given in the column definition. The precision for DECIMAL must be at least that many digits but is allowed to be more. In MySQL, the precision is exactly as given, for both types.