Mysql: does full-text cover normal index

full-text-searchMySQL

I have seen this question everywhere but the answer is just explaining some technical stuff without a clear verdict so I have to make my question so narrow that no one mistakes it with another question:

I have a table with millions of records. This table has a string field and I need to search it normally and full-text. So of course I need it to be fulltext but does it make it faster for my normal search if I add "index" as well?

Another word: Does full-text cover simple index?

Best Answer

No.

(Is that answer short enough and decisive enough?)

A regular index can be used for these, yet a FULLTEXT index cannot:

WHERE price = 12.34  -- numeric comparison
WHERE quantity > 100  -- not "equality"
WHERE country_code = 'US'  -- possibly to short for FULLTEXT
WHERE col LIKE '% foo %'  -- note explicit check for spaces
WHERE col LIKE '%=%'  -- punctuation

But for searching for a "word" inside a "text" column, FULLTEXT is excellent. You have to live within its limitations.

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