Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-09 Thread David Giragosian
I doubt this will have any sway on the contributors to this thread, but I ran across a db normalization "rule of thumb" yesterday in a tutorial for another language: "Normalize until it hurts; De-normalize until it works." I lean towards finding a middle ground, so this makes sense to me. --David

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-08 Thread Mark Weaver
Richard Heyes wrote: I do not agree that creating a database which is normalised to3NF is a waste of time. It isn't always, but it is sometimes. When time is a (significant) factor, getting something up and running (which has acceptable performance) may be more impotant than creating a techni

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Then surely "designed well" would include a normalised database? > > Not necessarily. You could for example have a database that accommodates > future needs without being completely normalised. That depends on your d

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
Then surely "designed well" would include a normalised database? Not necessarily. You could for example have a database that accommodates future needs without being completely normalised. -- Richard Heyes ++ | Access SSH with a Windows mapped drive | |

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Your experience in the real world must be very limited > > Clearly. > > > as it is often the >> case where a customer starts off with a "simple" requirement then keeps >> expanding it as time goes by as he dreams up m

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
Your experience in the real world must be very limited Clearly. > as it is often the case where a customer starts off with a "simple" requirement then keeps expanding it as time goes by as he dreams up more things that the system should do for him. If at day #1 you say "these reqirements are

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> You obviously do not understand what "technically perfect" means when it >> comes to data normalisation. > > Obviously. > >> That's why solutions which are thrown together are often incapable of >> being expanded to

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Robert Cummings
On Mon, 2008-05-05 at 13:51 +0100, Tony Marston wrote: > "Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> I do not agree that creating a database which is normalised to3NF is a > >> waste of time. > > > > It isn't always, but it is sometimes. When time is a (sig

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Robert Cummings
On Mon, 2008-05-05 at 11:10 +0100, Richard Heyes wrote: > Tony Marston wrote: > > "Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message > > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>> The database must be properly normalised otherwise it > >>> will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner.

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Robert Cummings
On Mon, 2008-05-05 at 10:31 +0100, Tony Marston wrote: > "Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > The database must be properly normalised otherwise it > >> will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner. > > > > Not true. If your n

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
You obviously do not understand what "technically perfect" means when it comes to data normalisation. Obviously. That's why solutions which are thrown together are often incapable of being expanded to include new requirements. I've never adovocated "throwing together" a solution. Merely that

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Jason Pruim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > On May 5, 2008, at 6:21 AM, Tony Marston wrote: > >> >> >> >> Anyone who doesn't know how to reach 3NF shouldn't be designing >> databases. > > Just out of curiosity... How many Records do you need to have in a > data

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> I do not agree that creating a database which is normalised to3NF is a >> waste of time. > > It isn't always, but it is sometimes. When time is a (significant) factor, > getting something up and running (which has ac

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
Anyone who doesn't know how to reach 3NF shouldn't be designing databases. Just out of curiosity... How many Records do you need to have in a database before you'll start seeing a performance boost from doing that? There's no hard and fast rule. When it becomes a chore to maintain I suppose

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Jason Pruim
On May 5, 2008, at 6:21 AM, Tony Marston wrote: Anyone who doesn't know how to reach 3NF shouldn't be designing databases. Just out of curiosity... How many Records do you need to have in a database before you'll start seeing a performance boost from doing that? I have written a few

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
I do not agree that creating a database which is normalised to3NF is a waste of time. It isn't always, but it is sometimes. When time is a (significant) factor, getting something up and running (which has acceptable performance) may be more impotant than creating a technically perfect solutio

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tony Marston wrote: >> "Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message >> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] The database must be properly normalised otherwise it will be difficult to get at the data you need in an

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
Tony Marston wrote: "Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] The database must be properly normalised otherwise it will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner. Not true. If your needs are simple for example, normalisation can increase

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
"Richard Heyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > The database must be properly normalised otherwise it >> will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner. > > Not true. If your needs are simple for example, normalisation can increase > the compl

Re: [PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Richard Heyes
> The database must be properly normalised otherwise it will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner. Not true. If your needs are simple for example, normalisation can increase the complexity of a schema, hence increasing development time needed. Sometimes for example

[PHP] Re: Where to start!

2008-05-05 Thread Tony Marston
As a person who has been developing database applications for several decades my advice is to ALWAYS start with the database design, then build your code around that. The database must be properly normalised otherwise it will be difficult to get at the data you need in an efficient manner. OO "

[PHP] Re: Where to start?

2003-06-06 Thread Monty
Knowing any kind of programming language will help in learning PHP. If you understand variables, arrays, if/else structures, etc., it allows you to skim over some of the basics quickly. I had very little programming experience, but, learned a lot from the book "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Lu

[PHP] Re: Where to start?

2003-06-06 Thread Bix
www.php.net is a beauty for function reference Your best place to start is here: http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/PHP101/PHP101_1/page1.html 5 tutorials on the basics, plus devshed has 100s of tutorials on everything. "Simon Thurtle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTEC