diamondgm (10/16/2009)

diamondgm (10/16/2009)Firstly, we assume that the average is the result of an even spread (that the average length is in fact 8.5 - we only need an average of 8 for storage to be a moot point in char vs varchar).

That's not an assumption, the even spread is explicitly mentioned in the question. Without it, I agree that the question would have been harder (if not impossible) to answer.

I think our definition of the word 'explicit' differs dramatically. I did not find the question to indicate that the spread was even as a fact.

Then our definition of the word 'explicit' does indeed differ dramatically.

The question reads (direct quote; emphasis added by me):

"Their length will vary from seven to ten characters, all English letters, both upper and lower case mixed with numeric digits, with an even distribution of lengths."

What would it need to satisfy your definition of 'explicit'?