title: Oracle datatype: Should I use VARCHAR2 or CHAR
body: <p>Should I use VARCHAR2 or CHAR as a datatype in Oracle?  </p>
  
  <p>It's been suggested to me to use CHAR for these new tables I need but I'm concerned since these new tables which will be used to populat existing tables that use a VARCHAR2 datatype.  I'm concerned about extra spaces being placed in the VARCHAR2 fields and with comparison issues.  I know there are ways to compare them using by trimming or converting them but I'm afraid it will make my code messy and buggy.</p>
  
  <p>What are your opinions?   </p>