Beginning MySQL
Chapter One
Designing a Relational
Database
Chapter 1 introduced you to databases and databases management systems. As you'll recall from
that discussion, a database is a collection of related data organized and classified in a structured format
that is defined by metadata. Not all databases are structured the same, though, as can be attested
to by the different data models that have emerged over the years. Yet many of these models-and
subsequently the systems that were built on them-lacked the flexibility necessary to support
increasingly sophisticated software applications. One data model emerged that addressed the limitations
of its predecessors and provided the flexibility necessary to meet the demands of today's application
technologies. This model-the relational model-has become the standard on which most
database management systems are now built.
MySQL is one of the database management systems based on the relational model. As a result, to
design effective databases, you should have a good understanding of that model and how it applies
to database design. To that end, this chapter provides you with a conceptual overview of the relational
model and explains the compon ... read full excerpt from Beginning MySQL ebook
