Saving space?
It doesn't matter much anymore these days, but if the data model goes back a while and you have a good grasp on the range of values, then decimal(x, 0) may have resulted in lower storage space use vs. a plain integer type.
decimal is a packed format. Depending on the database engine, it can take up as little as 1 byte where an integer takes at least 2*. Space savings would increase as the range goes up as the space needed for a decimal goes up 1 byte at a time. Integer would be 2/4/8.
* Assuming standard SQL.
decimal is a packed format. Depending on the database engine, it can take up as little as 1 byte where an integer takes at least 2*. Space savings would increase as the range goes up as the space needed for a decimal goes up 1 byte at a time. Integer would be 2/4/8.
* Assuming standard SQL.