Are there performance advantages or disadvantages between using "utf8_general_ci" and "utf8_unicode_ci" in PHP?

When choosing between "utf8_general_ci" and "utf8_unicode_ci" in PHP, it's important to consider the specific requirements of your application. "utf8_unicode_ci" is generally considered more accurate and supports a wider range of characters, making it a better choice for multilingual applications. However, it may have a slightly higher performance overhead compared to "utf8_general_ci". If your application requires accurate sorting and comparison of Unicode characters, "utf8_unicode_ci" is recommended. 

// Example of setting the collation to utf8_unicode_ci in a MySQL connection
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "myDB";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Set utf8_unicode_ci collation for the connection
$conn->set_charset("utf8mb4");
$conn->query("SET collation_connection = 'utf8_unicode_ci'");

// Use the connection for queries
// Close connection when done
$conn->close();

Keywords

utf8_general_ci utf8_unicode_ci performance advantages disadvantages

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