Character or String Data Types : String « Data Types « MySQL Tutorial

The storage that is needed for each type is determined by the length of the string.

String Types

10.21.String
	10.21.1.	Character or String Data Types
	10.21.2.	Strings
	10.21.3.	MySQL recognizes the following escape sequences.
	10.21.4.	To include quote characters within a string
	10.21.5.	A " inside a string quoted with " may be written as "".
	10.21.6.	Precede the quote character by an escape character (\).
	10.21.7.	A single quotation inside a string quoted with double quotation needs no special treatment.
	10.21.8.	A double quotation inside a string quoted with single quotation needs no special treatment.
	10.21.9.	When inserting binary data into a string column (such as a BLOB column), the following characters must be represented by escape sequences:
	10.21.10.	Hexadecimal Values
	10.21.11.	String comparisons normally are case-insensitive