Yep thats what I typically do except a string "code" and string "description" that way the raw data is more readable without joining the coded value and many ti

Yep thats what I typically do except a string "code" and string "description" that way the raw data is more readable without joining the coded value and many times you want a short code vs long description, like with US states and their abbreviations. Most codes are 1 or 2 characters up to maybe 4 so you end up with less or the same space used than a 32 bit int with UTF-8. Metadata like sorting and even what date ranges the code is valid for and even security as in who's allowed to use the code in the app.