title: mySQL UPDATE TEXT vs INT field types (speed performance)
body: <p>I need to UPDATE an undetermined number (max: 32 nos) of random int/float numbers in a mySQL table.</p>
  
  <p><strong>In PHP I have got them in an array:</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>$array['numbers'][1]=5.5;
  $array['numbers'][2]=2;
  $array['numbers'][3]=43;
  (...)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>mySQL Scenario 1:</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>+----+-----------------------------------+
  | id | numbers(Text)                     |
  +----+-----------------------------------+
  |  1 | a:3:{i:1;d:5.5;i:2;i:2;i:3;i:43;} |
  +----+-----------------------------------+
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>mySQL Scenario 2:</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>+----+------------+------------+------------+---
  | id | no1(int)   | no2(int)   | no3(int)   |  
  +----+------------+------------+------------+---
  |  1 | 5.5        | 2          | 43         |
  +----+------------+------------+------------+---
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>To update these fields in both scenarios I know the id (which is INT auto_increment) so I will include WHERE id=$known_id</p>
  
  <p>Does it make any difference in terms of <strong>UPDATE</strong> speed, if I serialize these and update the scenario 1 ? Or whether is the scenario 2 significantly faster bear in mind it could be 12, 13, 14, or more fields ?</p>
  
  <p><em>Note: I could also separate these by spaces and use implode() / explode() but the question remains the same. Also, I am focused in UPDATE which means am not looking for speed performance for SELECT, etc.</em></p>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT:</strong></p>
  
  <p>The database is from the same host server and I expect to update about 5 to 50 rows every 10 seconds or so. Also, let's reduce the number of random int numbers to 12, so we can fix the serialized string with between 512 to 1024 chars.</p>