diff --git a/UPGRADE.md b/UPGRADE.md
index 64ba7434353..4b552e980dd 100644
--- a/UPGRADE.md
+++ b/UPGRADE.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # Upgrade to 3.0
 
+## BC BREAK: `Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::getDefaultLength()` removed
+
+The `Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::getDefaultLength()` method has been removed as it served no purpose.
+
+## BC BREAK: `Doctrine\DBAL\DBALException` class renamed
+
+The `Doctrine\DBAL\DBALException` class has been renamed to `Doctrine\DBAL\Exception`. 
+
 ## BC BREAK: Doctrine\DBAL\Schema\Table constructor new parameter
 
 Deprecated parameter `$idGeneratorType` removed and added a new parameter `$uniqueConstraints`.
diff --git a/src/DBALException.php b/src/DBALException.php
deleted file mode 100644
index b4d55ae4184..00000000000
--- a/src/DBALException.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,199 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-namespace Doctrine\DBAL;
-
-use Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\AbstractPlatform;
-use Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type;
-
-use function get_class;
-use function gettype;
-use function implode;
-use function is_object;
-use function spl_object_hash;
-use function sprintf;
-
-/**
- * @deprecated Use {@link Exception} instead
- *
- * @psalm-immutable
- */
-class DBALException extends \Exception
-{
-    /**
-     * @param string $method
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function notSupported($method)
-    {
-        return new Exception(sprintf("Operation '%s' is not supported by platform.", $method));
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param mixed $invalidPlatform
-     */
-    public static function invalidPlatformType($invalidPlatform): self
-    {
-        if (is_object($invalidPlatform)) {
-            return new Exception(
-                sprintf(
-                    "Option 'platform' must be a subtype of '%s', instance of '%s' given",
-                    AbstractPlatform::class,
-                    get_class($invalidPlatform)
-                )
-            );
-        }
-
-        return new Exception(
-            sprintf(
-                "Option 'platform' must be an object and subtype of '%s'. Got '%s'",
-                AbstractPlatform::class,
-                gettype($invalidPlatform)
-            )
-        );
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns a new instance for an invalid specified platform version.
-     *
-     * @param string $version        The invalid platform version given.
-     * @param string $expectedFormat The expected platform version format.
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function invalidPlatformVersionSpecified($version, $expectedFormat)
-    {
-        return new Exception(
-            sprintf(
-                'Invalid platform version "%s" specified. ' .
-                'The platform version has to be specified in the format: "%s".',
-                $version,
-                $expectedFormat
-            )
-        );
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string|null $url The URL that was provided in the connection parameters (if any).
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function driverRequired($url = null)
-    {
-        if ($url !== null) {
-            return new Exception(
-                sprintf(
-                    "The options 'driver' or 'driverClass' are mandatory if a connection URL without scheme " .
-                    'is given to DriverManager::getConnection(). Given URL: %s',
-                    $url
-                )
-            );
-        }
-
-        return new Exception("The options 'driver' or 'driverClass' are mandatory if no PDO " .
-            'instance is given to DriverManager::getConnection().');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string   $unknownDriverName
-     * @param string[] $knownDrivers
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function unknownDriver($unknownDriverName, array $knownDrivers)
-    {
-        return new Exception("The given 'driver' " . $unknownDriverName . ' is unknown, ' .
-            'Doctrine currently supports only the following drivers: ' . implode(', ', $knownDrivers));
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $wrapperClass
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function invalidWrapperClass($wrapperClass)
-    {
-        return new Exception("The given 'wrapperClass' " . $wrapperClass . ' has to be a ' .
-            'subtype of \Doctrine\DBAL\Connection.');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $driverClass
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function invalidDriverClass($driverClass)
-    {
-        return new Exception(
-            "The given 'driverClass' " . $driverClass . ' has to implement the ' . Driver::class . ' interface.'
-        );
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $tableName
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function noColumnsSpecifiedForTable($tableName)
-    {
-        return new Exception('No columns specified for table ' . $tableName);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function limitOffsetInvalid()
-    {
-        return new Exception('Invalid Offset in Limit Query, it has to be larger than or equal to 0.');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $name
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function typeExists($name)
-    {
-        return new Exception('Type ' . $name . ' already exists.');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $name
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function unknownColumnType($name)
-    {
-        return new Exception('Unknown column type "' . $name . '" requested. Any Doctrine type that you use has ' .
-            'to be registered with \Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::addType(). You can get a list of all the ' .
-            'known types with \Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::getTypesMap(). If this error occurs during database ' .
-            'introspection then you might have forgotten to register all database types for a Doctrine Type. Use ' .
-            'AbstractPlatform#registerDoctrineTypeMapping() or have your custom types implement ' .
-            'Type#getMappedDatabaseTypes(). If the type name is empty you might ' .
-            'have a problem with the cache or forgot some mapping information.');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param string $name
-     *
-     * @return Exception
-     */
-    public static function typeNotFound($name)
-    {
-        return new Exception('Type to be overwritten ' . $name . ' does not exist.');
-    }
-
-    public static function typeNotRegistered(Type $type): self
-    {
-        return new Exception(
-            sprintf('Type of the class %s@%s is not registered.', get_class($type), spl_object_hash($type))
-        );
-    }
-
-    public static function typeAlreadyRegistered(Type $type): self
-    {
-        return new Exception(
-            sprintf('Type of the class %s@%s is already registered.', get_class($type), spl_object_hash($type))
-        );
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/Driver/SQLSrv/Statement.php b/src/Driver/SQLSrv/Statement.php
index fe380fa11cd..ba2e29f9117 100644
--- a/src/Driver/SQLSrv/Statement.php
+++ b/src/Driver/SQLSrv/Statement.php
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 use function stripos;
 
 use const SQLSRV_ENC_BINARY;
+use const SQLSRV_ENC_CHAR;
 use const SQLSRV_PARAM_IN;
 
 final class Statement implements StatementInterface
diff --git a/src/Exception.php b/src/Exception.php
index 34442da6a8a..56c4cc21ccb 100644
--- a/src/Exception.php
+++ b/src/Exception.php
@@ -2,9 +2,151 @@
 
 namespace Doctrine\DBAL;
 
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\AbstractPlatform;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type;
+
+use function get_class;
+use function gettype;
+use function implode;
+use function is_object;
+use function spl_object_hash;
+use function sprintf;
+
 /**
  * @psalm-immutable
  */
-class Exception extends DBALException
+class Exception extends \Exception
 {
+    public static function notSupported(string $method): self
+    {
+        return new self(sprintf("Operation '%s' is not supported by platform.", $method));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param mixed $invalidPlatform
+     */
+    public static function invalidPlatformType($invalidPlatform): self
+    {
+        if (is_object($invalidPlatform)) {
+            return new self(
+                sprintf(
+                    "Option 'platform' must be a subtype of '%s', instance of '%s' given",
+                    AbstractPlatform::class,
+                    get_class($invalidPlatform)
+                )
+            );
+        }
+
+        return new self(
+            sprintf(
+                "Option 'platform' must be an object and subtype of '%s'. Got '%s'",
+                AbstractPlatform::class,
+                gettype($invalidPlatform)
+            )
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a new instance for an invalid specified platform version.
+     *
+     * @param string $version        The invalid platform version given.
+     * @param string $expectedFormat The expected platform version format.
+     */
+    public static function invalidPlatformVersionSpecified(string $version, string $expectedFormat): self
+    {
+        return new self(
+            sprintf(
+                'Invalid platform version "%s" specified. ' .
+                'The platform version has to be specified in the format: "%s".',
+                $version,
+                $expectedFormat
+            )
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param string|null $url The URL that was provided in the connection parameters (if any).
+     */
+    public static function driverRequired(?string $url = null): self
+    {
+        if ($url !== null) {
+            return new self(
+                sprintf(
+                    "The options 'driver' or 'driverClass' are mandatory if a connection URL without scheme " .
+                    'is given to DriverManager::getConnection(). Given URL: %s',
+                    $url
+                )
+            );
+        }
+
+        return new self("The options 'driver' or 'driverClass' are mandatory if no PDO " .
+            'instance is given to DriverManager::getConnection().');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param string[] $knownDrivers
+     */
+    public static function unknownDriver(string $unknownDriverName, array $knownDrivers): self
+    {
+        return new self("The given 'driver' " . $unknownDriverName . ' is unknown, ' .
+            'Doctrine currently supports only the following drivers: ' . implode(', ', $knownDrivers));
+    }
+
+    public static function invalidWrapperClass(string $wrapperClass): self
+    {
+        return new self("The given 'wrapperClass' " . $wrapperClass . ' has to be a ' .
+            'subtype of \Doctrine\DBAL\Connection.');
+    }
+
+    public static function invalidDriverClass(string $driverClass): self
+    {
+        return new self(
+            "The given 'driverClass' " . $driverClass . ' has to implement the ' . Driver::class . ' interface.'
+        );
+    }
+
+    public static function noColumnsSpecifiedForTable(string $tableName): self
+    {
+        return new self('No columns specified for table ' . $tableName);
+    }
+
+    public static function limitOffsetInvalid(): self
+    {
+        return new self('Invalid Offset in Limit Query, it has to be larger than or equal to 0.');
+    }
+
+    public static function typeExists(string $name): self
+    {
+        return new self('Type ' . $name . ' already exists.');
+    }
+
+    public static function unknownColumnType(string $name): self
+    {
+        return new self('Unknown column type "' . $name . '" requested. Any Doctrine type that you use has ' .
+            'to be registered with \Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::addType(). You can get a list of all the ' .
+            'known types with \Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type::getTypesMap(). If this error occurs during database ' .
+            'introspection then you might have forgotten to register all database types for a Doctrine Type. Use ' .
+            'AbstractPlatform#registerDoctrineTypeMapping() or have your custom types implement ' .
+            'Type#getMappedDatabaseTypes(). If the type name is empty you might ' .
+            'have a problem with the cache or forgot some mapping information.');
+    }
+
+    public static function typeNotFound(string $name): self
+    {
+        return new self('Type to be overwritten ' . $name . ' does not exist.');
+    }
+
+    public static function typeNotRegistered(Type $type): self
+    {
+        return new self(
+            sprintf('Type of the class %s@%s is not registered.', get_class($type), spl_object_hash($type))
+        );
+    }
+
+    public static function typeAlreadyRegistered(Type $type): self
+    {
+        return new self(
+            sprintf('Type of the class %s@%s is already registered.', get_class($type), spl_object_hash($type))
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Platforms/AbstractPlatform.php b/src/Platforms/AbstractPlatform.php
index 6287710b1ae..8b3b2775a5d 100644
--- a/src/Platforms/AbstractPlatform.php
+++ b/src/Platforms/AbstractPlatform.php
@@ -3147,18 +3147,6 @@ public function supportsForeignKeyConstraints()
         return true;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Whether this platform supports onUpdate in foreign key constraints.
-     *
-     * @deprecated
-     *
-     * @return bool
-     */
-    public function supportsForeignKeyOnUpdate()
-    {
-        return $this->supportsForeignKeyConstraints();
-    }
-
     /**
      * Whether the platform supports database schemas.
      *
diff --git a/src/Types/StringType.php b/src/Types/StringType.php
index 9a510effc7e..4e7bd55d07c 100644
--- a/src/Types/StringType.php
+++ b/src/Types/StringType.php
@@ -17,14 +17,6 @@ public function getSQLDeclaration(array $column, AbstractPlatform $platform)
         return $platform->getVarcharTypeDeclarationSQL($column);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * {@inheritdoc}
-     */
-    public function getDefaultLength(AbstractPlatform $platform)
-    {
-        return $platform->getVarcharDefaultLength();
-    }
-
     /**
      * {@inheritdoc}
      */
diff --git a/src/Types/Type.php b/src/Types/Type.php
index 2395c12aa4b..6ba46f4f7b0 100644
--- a/src/Types/Type.php
+++ b/src/Types/Type.php
@@ -89,18 +89,6 @@ public function convertToPHPValue($value, AbstractPlatform $platform)
         return $value;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Gets the default length of this type.
-     *
-     * @deprecated Rely on information provided by the platform instead.
-     *
-     * @return int|null
-     */
-    public function getDefaultLength(AbstractPlatform $platform)
-    {
-        return null;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Gets the SQL declaration snippet for a column of this type.
      *
diff --git a/tests/DBALExceptionTest.php b/tests/ExceptionTest.php
similarity index 76%
rename from tests/DBALExceptionTest.php
rename to tests/ExceptionTest.php
index 2de2a0dc392..3ae3b3cb411 100644
--- a/tests/DBALExceptionTest.php
+++ b/tests/ExceptionTest.php
@@ -2,20 +2,20 @@
 
 namespace Doctrine\DBAL\Tests;
 
-use Doctrine\DBAL\DBALException;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Exception;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use stdClass;
 
 use function sprintf;
 
-class DBALExceptionTest extends TestCase
+class ExceptionTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testDriverRequiredWithUrl(): void
     {
         $url       = 'mysql://localhost';
-        $exception = DBALException::driverRequired($url);
+        $exception = Exception::driverRequired($url);
 
-        self::assertInstanceOf(DBALException::class, $exception);
+        self::assertInstanceOf(Exception::class, $exception);
         self::assertSame(
             sprintf(
                 "The options 'driver' or 'driverClass' are mandatory if a connection URL without scheme " .
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public function testDriverRequiredWithUrl(): void
 
     public function testInvalidPlatformTypeObject(): void
     {
-        $exception = DBALException::invalidPlatformType(new stdClass());
+        $exception = Exception::invalidPlatformType(new stdClass());
 
         self::assertSame(
             "Option 'platform' must be a subtype of 'Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\AbstractPlatform', "
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public function testInvalidPlatformTypeObject(): void
 
     public function testInvalidPlatformTypeScalar(): void
     {
-        $exception = DBALException::invalidPlatformType('some string');
+        $exception = Exception::invalidPlatformType('some string');
 
         self::assertSame(
             "Option 'platform' must be an object and subtype of 'Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\AbstractPlatform'. "
diff --git a/tests/Types/StringTest.php b/tests/Types/StringTest.php
index 49c5c923dcc..dd64385f311 100644
--- a/tests/Types/StringTest.php
+++ b/tests/Types/StringTest.php
@@ -31,15 +31,6 @@ public function testReturnsSqlDeclarationFromPlatformVarchar(): void
         self::assertEquals('TEST_VARCHAR', $this->type->getSQLDeclaration([], $this->platform));
     }
 
-    public function testReturnsDefaultLengthFromPlatformVarchar(): void
-    {
-        $this->platform->expects(self::once())
-            ->method('getVarcharDefaultLength')
-            ->willReturn(255);
-
-        self::assertEquals(255, $this->type->getDefaultLength($this->platform));
-    }
-
     public function testConvertToPHPValue(): void
     {
         self::assertIsString($this->type->convertToPHPValue('foo', $this->platform));