MySQL CAST vs. CONVERT Let's say that I have a VARCHAR (which contains numeric data) that I want to use for a simple computation (adding 10 to it).  According to the MySQL documentation on CAST functions, I could accomplish this with either a CAST or a CONVERT:

SELECT (CAST(field1 AS SIGNED)) + 10
FROM myTable;


or:

SELECT (CONVERT(field1,SIGNED)) + 10
FROM myTable;


What is the difference between CAST and CONVERT in this sense?  Are they both really accomplishing the same thing?
Yes, CAST and CONVERT do the same thing, except that CONVERT allows more options, such as changing character set with USING.