If you're creating a dynamic web application using open-source tools, then you're probably going to be setting up a MySQL database. Getting the design of this database right for your application and its data is vital, but it's often an intimidating and little-known process for non-developers and developers alike. Written by the creator of the popular phpMyAdmin tool, this book is a short but complete guide on how to design good data structures for MySQL.

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.

• 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

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.

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.

Marc Delisle
Marc Delisle is a member of the MySQL Developers Guild – which regroups community developers – because of his involvement with phpMyAdmin. He started to contribute to this popular MySQL web interface in December 1998, when he made the first multi-language version. He has been actively involved with the phpMyAdmin project since May 2001 as a developer and project administrator.

He has worked since 1980 at Collège de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, as an application programmer and network manager. He has also been teaching networking, security, Linux servers, and PHP/MySQL application development. In one of his classes, he was pleased to meet a phpMyAdmin user from Argentina.