Database Needed

Mariams30 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 03:50 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of creating a web site and I want to include a database. However, I'm very new to all this so I don't know where to look for. Does any of you know of a very simple database that I can start using and then maybe develop when I get more familiar with it? I want to develop the database on my own computer and then find a web host.

I would really appreciate if someone could point me towards a very simple to use database.

Thanks a lot for your help,
Maria

stymiee · #2 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 04:32 PM

http://www.mysql.com

It's free and the most popular one in use online today.

imvain2 · #3 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 05:32 PM

Since you are new to dbs and want to create it first on your computer, I hate to suggest such a garbage database system but it sounds like Microsoft Access would be for you.

However, stymiee is correct as mySQL is a great database system. But you would need to install mySQL on your pc to create the database on your computer.

jacobwissler · #4 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 05:55 PM

If you need someone to set it up for you, we can assist or give free advcice.

ccazier · #5 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 06:09 PM

Although most people look down their noses at Access, I work in both MS Access and MySQL... MS Access on my local computer to set up basic table structures & enter base information then use the MySQL ODBC driver to pull it all over into MySQL. What's great is that MySQL doesn't care if I'm moving the Access data to another local (test) database or my live, remote database.

Also, I use SQLYog as my GUI MySQL client.

kgun · #6 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 06:16 PM

MySQL comes with the xampp package, that you can download and install in 5 minutes.

It may take half an hour to configure it. Read down the download page on the internet, then the welcome page on the localhost of your computer and the readme (text) files of the different (sub)folders of the xampp folder (the folder where you install xampp).

imvain2 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 06:39 PM

I should rephrase my statement about Access. I believe Access in a good database for non Internet use. Its only when its used online that I have experienced so many problems with it.

It looks like its unanimous, mySQL is your best bet for the database that is used on the Internet.

kgun · #8 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 06:51 PM

Access is great for its use. It is very effective as part of the office package.

And you can export access databases to an SQL database.

You can use VBA with embedded SQL statements in Access.

Note a database like MySQL is like a cloud. It has no first or last row (record). But it must have a column with a unique ID that you can use to sort the rows in different ways.

One central idea with a relational database is that you shall not use duplicates. The relations between the tables in the database takes care of that.

lutenegger · #9 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 06:56 PM

We can talk Access v. mysql v. Postgre v. whatever all day long.

Personally, I like mysql because most of the websites I develop run LAMP, Access is fine for small sites with little traffic and I've found it very useful for small company internal projects, but first, I think the more pertinent questions are:

What is the database going to be used for? Saying you want a db is a little vague, I've had a good number of clients ask for a database without knowing what that means or for what their going to use it.

What platform is the site running?

How much traffic?

What's your coding background?

These will lead you to your answer. Good luck.

Erik
http://www.lutenegger.com

mhees · #10 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 08:09 PM

lutenegger is asking the right questions!

I agree with the others that Mysql is the way to go, but you might find it a bit 'geeky' in the beginning due to the lack of a good gui. Installing the xampp on your local machine as someone suggested is a good way to get your feet wet.

I'd also suggest reading all you can about relational database design principles.. understanding normalization will help you trememdously (and save lots of headaches later) if you're designing from scratch.

But depending on your application, probably can find an open source package that already does what you need it to... plus its a good way to learn, as you can look at someone elses code and schema to see how it all works.

--Mark

tundewoods · #11 (**permalink**) 09-20-2006, 10:04 PM

First of all Maria,
You will have to decide on the server-side technology that you are planning to embrace, that is choose whether to run your website on php mysql / asp or asp.net / coldfusion.

Honestly for a new comer like you i would recommend the first option php mysql. Regarding the database. My sql database is the way to go like everyone (or most people) have said.

You can get alot of support online for open source. After all that is the meaning of open source.

cheers

mnsandy · #12 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 03:14 AM

see PHPtriad - its all in one solution for developing on PC. PHP, apache and mysql with mysqladmin so you can esily edit in visual mode your DB and later export/import to the host.

**wige** · #13 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 09:41 AM

As a new user, I would definitely agree that MySQL is the way to go, especially for a web site. Most web servers and Linux OSs include MySQL, and most web programming languages (JAVA, PERL, PHP) either support MySQL by default or can easily have drivers installed to communicate with it. Additionally, most of the tutorials you find on the web about online databases assume that you are using MySQL. As your needs grow and evolve, you will probably look into other databases, but MySQL will probably give you the best starting point.

As for on your (Windows?) desktop computer, I would still suggest using MySQL because it is free, unlike Access, and your interaction with the database will be purely SQL queries without all the vendor specific interfaces that Access provides. You will probably have an easier time learning and familiarizing yourself with SQL using a pure database without the additional distractions - um, I mean features - of Access.

philscanlan · #14 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 10:34 AM

Developing your DB on your local machine could be a challenge.

If you're new to all this, I'd recommend finding a webhost that will allow you to create a database (I also prefer MySQL) through their CP. (pair.com comes to mind).

Once you have your DB, find a GUI client that can interact with it (phpmyadmin - if you plan on developing in PHP), or navicat (not free, but there's a trial) are great tools. PHPmyAdmin can be a bit confusing to the inexperienced, but it is free.

Learning how to interact with mysql from the command line will come with time.

Best of luck.

steve0 · #15 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 10:57 AM

For what it is worth,
Here is a tutorial/introduction to php and mysql.
It'll give you some background regarding simple database driven web pages.

http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/99/21/index2a.html

Mariams30 · #16 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 12:31 PM

Thank you very much everyone. I will start working on this and hopefully I won't have any problems. It is really challenging and distressful if you don't know how to do it.
Thanks again

williemanillie · #17 (**permalink**) 09-21-2006, 07:39 PM

MySQL is for me the best. I am new and all. I use it regularly with my CMS platform. You'll be fine using it. Just make your backups and you'll be fine.

tkershaw · #18 (**permalink**) 10-05-2006, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

One central idea with a relational database is that you shall not use duplicates. The relations between the tables in the database takes care of that.

Yes, it is all relative eh? Here are the 5 rules of data normalization.

Tony.

netman4ttm · #19 (**permalink**) 02-12-2007, 08:00 PM

Marie;
A late answer; but here goes.
Forget Access if you are thinking along those lines go with FoxPro,
You might want to try this as a text file. It is easy to setup, it is easy to understand. It works very well for gathering information. If your code is basically insert insert insert a text file will work well for you. If your code is insert select update stick with MySQL

Matt Kelly · #20 (**permalink**) 02-12-2007, 08:28 PM

The real question should be what database is your potential hosting company going to support... If you are using shared hosting you probably only have 1-2 to choose from anyways, and you may have to pay extra for them.

GoDaddy is very inexpensive and comes with 5 mySQL databases...

Other hosts charge $5-10 extra a month to have databases.

Before you choose a database I would check hosting companies and see what they offer, and at what price point they offer it.

Database A might be the best database in the world but if it costs me $50/month as opposed to Database B which is only $5/month... Database B wins

IMO: go with Apache/PHP/MySQL on your personal computer and then mitigate directly to a website that supports it

ONE BIG CAVEAT: a lot of hosting companies use MySQL 4. and PHP 4. If you download versions off the web you will get version 5 of each.

If you use password encryption for mySQL, etc, there will even be differences between 4.1 and 4.0 of mySQL ...

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, and you may end up using functions that are not available in the earlier versions, which means it will not port over directly... another reason to spec out a host first..

Just my thoughts...