Relational Database Design - Page 1
       by Brian Haveri aka bwh2 | 2 October 2006
 

Many web designers understand what a database is. Some have even written queries to access a database or even designed their own database. Unfortunately, many web designers suffer from unnecessary problems and setbacks because they do not understand the basics of relational database design. This tutorial teaches the basics of relational database design. Along the way, SQL tips and best practices will also be shown and explained. In addition, you will be introduced to important database terminology. As an example, this tutorial will design a database to hold works for a web design portfolio.

A few notes before we start: All table names will begin with "tbl_". The database used in this example is MySQL version 4.x. The queries shown should also work in MySQL version 5. MySQL is often the choice of web designers needing database functionality. Other SQL databases such as MSSQL Server may use slightly different query syntax, but the relational database design concepts shown will still apply.

Define What the Database Will Do
The database will hold portfolio works for my web design portfolio. The database will hold information about each work such as title, category, technology used, and client name.

Create the Database
Before we can get started designing our database, we have to create it. Below is the SQL to create the database. Many hosts will not allow you to create a database directly from SQL, so you may have to use your administration panel to create the database. In that case, ignore the following code.

/***** CREATE the database *****/
CREATE DATABASE `kirupa_portfolio` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
/***** End CREATE *****/

SQL Tip

Within SQL, comments are held inside /* comment */ tags. Tick marks (`) can be used around database, table, and column names. Tick marks are not required unless you are attempting to query a database, table, or column named with a reserved word (such as "date" or "select").

Onwards to the next page!

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