Storing flags in a DB

Question

In my application, I\'d like the user to select his working days. then store them in the database. Of course my application will process the users\' data like: Is today a wo

Answer 1

Bitmasking field is a bit more cryptic in nature and you need to create something else to interpret what you store in the bitmask.

The second approach is a lot more transparent and easily understandable and it's a bit more flexible if you need to add more values. With the bitmask, you again need to redo your bitmap decoder each time you add a value which can be a maintainance nightmare compared to the relational approach.