NVARCHAR(MAX) to replace TEXT datatype?

Question

I have read about Are there any disadvantages to always using nvarchar(MAX) and varchar(max) vs varchar(255) from different forums. Now, I wonder if it is ideal/safe practice to convert a text datatype to nvarchar(MAX) ? Are there any performance difference? or do I need to specify the size (as in nvarchar(255) ) instead of nvarchar(max) ?

Answer 1

Answer is very simple: text type is deprecated. So, yes, you should convert a text datatype to varchar(MAX) .

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-AU/library/ms187993.aspx

ntext, text, and image data types will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Avoid using these data types in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use them. Use nvarchar(max), varchar(max), and varbinary(max) instead.

On top of that, if you know that the size of your text is less than 8000, then use varchar(nnn) instead of varchar(max) . varchar(nnn) is more efficient than varchar(max) .

Note: text type is for non-unicode text, so use varchar instead. ntext is for unicode text, so use nvarchar instead.