In general, only store things as integers if it might be meaningful to do math on them.

I saw a database once that stored phone numbers as ints. elsewhere in the software, they tried to take the mean of the wrong column. If the phone numbers had been stored as strings the error would have been obvious. As it was, the error survived in production for a disturbingly long time. The users persisted in thinking the output was meaningful even after the problem was discovered.

Also my U.S. phone number used to be 703-6XX-XXXX (digits omitted for privacy). That's not going to work if you store it as a 32-bit integer (when I was a dumb college student I made a similar mistake, and spent a couple of minutes scratching my head over why my number kept changing to 214-748-3647 every time I saved it to the DB).

"Somewhere in Dallas, some poor bastard is wondering why his phone rings off the hook with calls for the Nevada Division of Mental Health & Developmental Services, the Jackson County Florida Chamber of Commerce, a yacht club in New York….." And NASA, apparently http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/award_firm_list/selection_nid/3513...

It should have strictly warned you about data truncation...

I'd honestly have rather it stored a NULL than that result though.

Elsewhere I showed [1] that you can store that number in a 32-bit integer if you first swap the leading two digits.

Don't ever do this.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11323371

I said 'some integer type' in anticipation of this comment if I'd just said int ;)

Although, the other reason that won't work (which I thought you were going to say) is that it'll end up as -X1XX!

I wrote a VB app named Fax Assistant that used Rightfax codes in MS-Word and had to use phone numbers. I stored the numbers as strings/text because sometimes in order to get a fax machine you had to dial a comma and a 2 for some sort of switchbox that shares a voice line.

In St. Louis had 314 and 636 area codes, sonetimes they needed a 1 in front of them based on where you called from. 636 was west county like St. Charles 314 was St. Louis city and North, East, and West county. They used a different area code to make more numbers due to demand.