title: .NET Int16 limits less than NUMBER(5, 0) limits in Oracle
body: <p>According to <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E63277_01/win.121/e63268/entityCodeFirst.htm#ODPNT8310" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this documentation</a>, Oracle suggest mapping a <code>NUMBER(5, 0)</code> column to <code>Int16</code>. However I realized that <code>Int16</code> has a range of <code>-32,768 to +32,767</code> but <code>NUMBER(5, 0)</code> has a range of <code>-99999 to 99999</code>. So is it really best practice to use <code>Int16</code> in this scenario?</p>
  <p>I understand that if all my data flows into the database through my .NET code, then I am effectively limiting the column to an <code>Int16</code> and there should be no problems, but what if there is another application that inserts a value of <code>99999</code> into this column, which I then read and breaks my application because it doesn't fit to <code>Int16</code>? I'm just looking for best practices / suggestions, thanks.</p>
  <p>I have already looked at <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5502016/which-net-data-type-is-best-for-mapping-the-number-oracle-data-type-in-nhiberna">Which .NET data type is best for mapping the NUMBER Oracle data type in NHibernate?</a>, which is in regards to a whole <code>NUMBER</code> datatype but I'm asking regarding a <code>NUMBER(5, 0)</code> datatype.</p>