Constructing a Database System

Now that your database system is installed, it’s time to get started creating a working database. This is a process that involves careful planning and design; you can’t just indiscriminately create tables and columns without an eye toward maximum efficiency. Likewise, you can’t simply assume that you’ll be able to go back and redesign the system later as you learn how it should be done. Although database schemas can be changed, it’s not terribly easy to do so, and in some cases it can’t be done without loss of data or without destabilizing your own web application code built on top of the existing schema.

Before you do anything else, you’ll need to create your database. This amounts to little more than creating ...

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