Understanding varchar(max) 8000 column and why I can store more than 8000 characters in it
I can see why you're misunderstanding this - it's a little tricky. These are all valid:


VARCHAR(1) - one character string
VARCHAR(4000) - 4,000 characters
VARCHAR(8000) - 8,000 characters - and if you use a number for this field's definition, that's the highest NUMBER you can use, but watch this:
VARCHAR(MAX) - that one holds up to 2GB.


And yes, if you try to get data out of a VARCHAR(MAX) field, and somebody stored 2GB in there, buckle up.