SQL data types are divided into five categories:

1. Character/String Data Types
2. Numeric Data Types
3. Date/Time Data Types
4. Binary Data Types
5. Miscellaneous Data Types


# 1. Character/String Data Types
Character/Strings can be used to store strings like names, locations, etc. and even large text files.
| Data Type     | Description                                                 |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
| CHAR          | Maximum 8000 character long fixed length string             |
| VARCHAR       | Maximum 8000 character long variable length string          |
| VARCHAR(max)  | Maximum `max` character long variable length string         |
| NCHAR         | Unicode Maximum 8000 character long fixed length string     |
| NVARCHAR      | Unicode Maximum 8000 character long variable length string  |
| NVARCHAR(max) | Unicode Maximum `max` character long variable length string |
| TEXT          | Maximum 2GB sized variable length string                    |

# 2. Numeric Data Types
Numeric data types can be used to store exact or decimal numeric data, from very small numbers in a `bit` or `tinyint` to very large numbers in a `bigint`. 

| Data Type | Minimum                    | Maximum                   |
|-----------|----------------------------|---------------------------|
| bit       | 0                          | 1                         |
| tinyint   | 0                          | 255                       |
| smallint  | -32,768                    | 32,767                    |
| int       | -2,147,483,648             | 2,147,483,647             |
| bigint    | -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 | 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 |
| decimal   | -10^38 - 1                 | -10^38 - 1                |
| real      | -3.40E + 38                | 3.40E + 38                |
| numeric   | -10^38 +1                  | 10^38 -1                  |
| float     | -1.79E + 308               | 1.79E + 308               |

# 3. Date/Time Data Types
Date/Time data types are used to store data and time objects. Storing a date as a date/type object instead of a string can make it very easy to work with data at a later point.

| Data Type | Description                                                                |
|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Datetime  | Date and Time stored in the YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS format                     |
| Date      | Date stored in the YYYY-MM-DD format                                       |
| Time      | Time stored in the HH:MI:SS format                                         |
| Timestamp | Number of seconds passed stored since ‘1970-01-01 00:00:00’ UTC            |
| Year      | Year stored in 2-digit (from 1970-2069) or 4-digit (from 1901 2155) format |

# 4. Binary Data Types
Binary data types are used to store data in its binary form, instead of storing it as strings, which can be a big factor in saving space.

| Data Type      | Description                                  |
|----------------|----------------------------------------------|
| BINARY         | Maximum length of 8000 bytes fixed binary    |
| VARBINARY      | Maximum length of 8000 bytes variable binary |
| VARBINARY(max) | Maximum length of `max` bytes fixed binary   |
| NTEXT          | Maximum 2GB sized variable length binary     |

# 5. Miscellaneous Data Types
These data types are for special types of data as described below:

| Data Type | Description                            |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|
| CLOB      | Upto 2GB large character objects |
| BLOB      | For storing binary large objects       |
| JSON      | For storing JSON objects               |
| XML       | For storing XML objects                |



SQL Data Types

SQL data types: Character/String, Numeric, Date/Time, Binary, and Miscellaneous, each serving specific storage needs.

Data Type	Description
CHAR	Maximum 8000 character long fixed length string
VARCHAR	Maximum 8000 character long variable length string
VARCHAR(max)	Maximum `max` character long variable length string
NCHAR	Unicode Maximum 8000 character long fixed length string
NVARCHAR	Unicode Maximum 8000 character long variable length string
NVARCHAR(max)	Unicode Maximum `max` character long variable length string
TEXT	Maximum 2GB sized variable length string

Data Type	Minimum	Maximum
bit	0	1
tinyint	0	255
smallint	-32,768	32,767
int	-2,147,483,648	2,147,483,647
bigint	-9,223,372,036,854,775,808	9,223,372,036,854,775,807
decimal	-10^38 - 1	-10^38 - 1
real	-3.40E + 38	3.40E + 38
numeric	-10^38 +1	10^38 -1
float	-1.79E + 308	1.79E + 308

Data Type	Description
Datetime	Date and Time stored in the YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS format
Date	Date stored in the YYYY-MM-DD format
Time	Time stored in the HH:MI:SS format
Timestamp	Number of seconds passed stored since ‘1970-01-01 00:00:00’ UTC
Year	Year stored in 2-digit (from 1970-2069) or 4-digit (from 1901 2155) format

Data Type	Description
BINARY	Maximum length of 8000 bytes fixed binary
VARBINARY	Maximum length of 8000 bytes variable binary
VARBINARY(max)	Maximum length of `max` bytes fixed binary
NTEXT	Maximum 2GB sized variable length binary

Data Type	Description
CLOB	Upto 2GB large character objects
BLOB	For storing binary large objects
JSON	For storing JSON objects
XML	For storing XML objects