 <p>While this question is old I must say that I am having a pretty tough experience right now due to delimited strings that I have to use on the backend. I agree with most posts on this question in that it does depend on the needs of the application, but what also must be considered are the needs of the backend, meaning those who might actually have to use the data later on. As Vincent stated, if you plan on doing reporting, or somehow using the data that you're storing for some purpose later on, then generally you'll want to be sure you avoid making it harder on yourself or whomever may be using the data. If all you're worried about is storing it, then do whatever makes you happy.</p>