“Relational databases are becoming increasingly popular for web
applications. This is generally a good thing, allowing us to focus
on the way in which our data is structured, rather than the way it
is stored on disk. Offloading data storage and retrieval tasks to a
relational database server means our programs can be smaller and
easier to maintain.”
“However, incorporating a database server on a web site is not a
cure-all. The database might take care of many necessary tasks, but
it cannot design your tables for you, nor determine the best way in
which to work with them.”
“This month, we will look at the art of database design and how
we can structure tables to improve performance. Getting the
most out of a database is something of a black art, which is why
good database administrators (DBAs) are always in high demand. But
with a few simple techniques, we can overcome some of the most
basic performance problems experienced by web programmers. We
will design a database that can handle train schedules. In so
doing, we will touch on a number of issues database programmers
face when deciding how to design tables in a database.”