Cast Functions and Operators

Name	Description
BINARY()	convert a value to a binary string
CAST()	Cast a value as a certain type
CONVERT()	Cast a value as a certain type
DECODE()	Used to decrypt ENCODE() encoded data
ENCODE()	Used for symmetric encryption of strings
SERIAL()	Serialize concatenation strings without handling NULL values
SERIAL_FULL()	Serialize concatenation strings and handle NULL values