A short guide for everyone on how to structure your data and set-up your MySQL database tables efficiently and easily.

• How best to collect, name, group, and structure your data
• Design your data with future growth in mind
• Practical examples from initial ideas to final designs
• The quickest way to learn how to design good data structures for MySQL
• From the author of Mastering phpMyAdmin

In Detail

For most of us, setting up the database for an application is often an afterthought. While you don't need to be a professional database designer to create a working application, knowing a few insider tips and techniques can make both the process easier and the end result much more effective. This book doesn't set out to make you an expert in data analysis, but it does provide a quick and easy way to raise your game in this essential part of getting your application right.

What you will learn from this book?

• Asking users the right questions to collect relevant data for the system you are building
• Detecting bad structures
• Sound data-naming techniques, for both table and column names
• Modeling data with future growth in mind
• Implementing security policies with data privileges and views
• Tuning the structure for performanceProducing system documentation (data dictionary, relational schema)
• Testing the model with appropriate SQL queries

Approach

This book takes a practical approach, implementing all theoretical concepts with examples. It is a fast-paced tutorial that focuses on critical decisions that you need to make every time you build MySQL databases. It is rich with tips and advice from an experienced practitioner.

Who this book is written for?

Anyone working with applications that use a MySQL database backend will benefit greatly from the advice and techniques in this book. Although a working knowledge of both SQL and MySQL is assumed, the book is suitable for both beginners and intermediate users alike. Whether you read it through and absorb the advice or work through it on a live project, the efficiency and maintainability of your databases will certainly improve as a result.