MySQL在Varchar字段上的唯一索引-优点和缺点？

Question

I have a Django app with MySQL table where in addition to querying based on the primary key of the table I also do lots of queries on the slugname of the business name as the slugname is part of the url. www.mywebsite.com/slug-name/ . The slugname is unique value.

I do have business ID integer as PRIMARY key and PRIMARY index.

MySQL TABLE:

id - int, pk, primary index
name - varchar(50)
slugname - varchar(50) (is unique value)
...

1. Will the be any major benefit from indexing the slugname?
2. Since the slugname is unique will UNIQUE index be preferred over fulltext index?
3. Any cons of indexing the varchar field?
4. Would fulltext give me any benefits over UNIQUE index?
5. Would Django queries benefit from the index?

Answer 1

I can't anwser all of your questions, but:

1. YES, lookup queries for specific slug names will be dramatically increased on a large set of data.

2. You should use UNIQUE index, that way you don't have to do a lookup to test for unique, simply let the database throw the error and handle it correctly in django

3. in todays systems, i would say no, particularly one that is only 50 characters.

4. Not sure... i'm betting google can tell you the pro's and cons of each of those and you could apply that to your situation/usage

5. Yes, see #1.