Complexities with Binary Collations

Solomon Rutzky takes us through the nuances of binary collations:

Still, there are some complexities related to binary collations that you might not be aware of. To figure out what they are, we need to look at why there are so many binary collations in the first place. I mean, binary collations work on the underlying values of the characters, and comparing numbers doesn’t change between cultures or versions: 12 = 12, 12 > 11, and 12 <13, always. So, then what is the difference between:

– Latin1_General_100_BIN2 and Hebrew_100_BIN2 (only the culture is different), or

– Latin1_General_100_BIN2 and Latin1_General_BIN2 (only the version is different), or

–Latin1_General_100_BIN2 and Latin1_General_100_BIN (only the binary comparison type is different)

Read on to find out.