Certainly! Here's a detailed answer to the interview question "What is the difference between string and text in Rails?":
In Ruby on Rails, both string and text are data types used to store character-based data in the database. However, they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics:
String
Purpose: The string data type is used for storing relatively short pieces of text.
Storage: Typically, it maps to the VARCHAR type in SQL databases.
Length: It has a length limit, which is usually 255 characters. This limit can vary depending on the database system being used.
Use Cases: Ideal for storing data like names, email addresses, titles, and other short text fields.
Text
Purpose: The text data type is designed for storing longer pieces of text.
Storage: It maps to the TEXT type in SQL databases.
Length: It can store much larger amounts of text compared to string. The exact limit depends on the database system, but it is generally very large (e.g., up to 4GB in MySQL).
Use Cases: Suitable for storing large bodies of text such as descriptions, comments, articles, and other long-form content.
