What is the `DECIMAL` type in MySQL?

In MySQL, the DECIMAL data type is used to store exact numeric values with a fixed number of digits, both before and after the decimal point. This makes it particulaly useful for financial or monetary data, where precision and accuracy are critical.

Syntax

DECIMAL(M, D)

• M is the maxmum number of total digits (precision).
• D is the number of digits after the decimal point (scale).

Example:

CREATE TABLE `example` (
    `amount` DECIMAL(10, 2)
);

This allows up to 10 digits total, with 2 digits after the decimal point (e.g., 12345678.90).