Tagged Questions
53
votes
12answers
32k views
Is it a bad practice to store large files (10 MB) in a database? [closed]
I am currently creating a web application that allows users to store and share files, 1 MB - 10 MB in size.
It seems to me that storing the files in a database will significantly slow down ...
42
votes
12answers
3k views
Is it necessary to create a database with as few tables as possible
Should we create a database structure with a minimum number of tables?
Should it be designed in a way that everything stays in one place or is it okay to have more tables?
Will it in anyway affect ...
19
votes
6answers
4k views
Front end first or Back end first. Of the two which is a Good system design pratice?
I have a client right now requiring me to develop a school enrollment system. Now this is the first time im having this kind of challenge. Most of the past software that i created are not that ...
17
votes
6answers
5k views
Should I use one database per application or share a single database amongst multiple applications [closed]
I have multiple applications some that use data from the same sources.
Is it best practice (or what are the pros/cons) to:
leave the data in databases shared by multiple applications
saves space ...
16
votes
7answers
666 views
De-facto standards for customer information record [closed]
I'm currently evaluating a potential new project that involves creating a DB for typical customer information (userid, pwd, first & last name, email, adress, telfnr ...). At this point, ...
15
votes
9answers
1k views
Constraints in a relational databases - Why not remove them completely?
Is there any reason to build constraints between tables (inside SQLserver) nowadays? If so, when? Most applications in my area are built on object principles and tables are joined on demand. Demand ...
15
votes
6answers
727 views
What do DBAs do?
Yes, I know they administrate databases.
I asked this question because I'd like to get a further insight into the kind of day-to-day duties a DBA might perform, and the real-world business problems ...
14
votes
1answer
6k views
When should you use a document vs relational vs graph database? [closed]
For the purposes of discussion let's consider a FourSquare scenario.
Scenario
Entities:
Users
Places
Relationships:
Checkins: users <-> places, many to many
Friends: users <-> users, ...
13
votes
5answers
1k views
Is it the job of programmers to design the database?
I've been a programmer for the past six years. Throughout my career, I have worked on many web applications.
Most of the time, when a database was needed, it was given to us (the programmers) or we ...
12
votes
6answers
1k views
In plain English, what is a database index most similar to?
Setup: Suppose you are teaching an introduction to Databases class, the students are CS students that have a working knowledge of tree structures, how they can speed up searches, and have probably ...
12
votes
3answers
1k views
General thought process for “How would you build this website/app” interview questions
I've collected a bunch of interview questions like "Describe how you would design a photo album application", "Describe how you would design this particular feature of this particular website" (e.g. ...
11
votes
10answers
897 views
How could RDBMSes be considered a fad?
Completing my Computing A-level in 2003 and getting a degree in Computing in 2007, and learning my trade in a company with a lot of SQL usage, I was brought up on the idea of Relational Databases ...
11
votes
8answers
1k views
Handling deleted users - separate or same table?
The scenario is that I've got an expanding set of users, and as time goes by, users will cancel their accounts which we currently mark as 'deleted' (with a flag) in the same table.
If users with the ...
11
votes
4answers
311 views
Can I use the database structure of an open source project?
I found a database structure for a CMS system and I want to copy it with the EF that this database is done in, is it OK to copy the database structure of open source software which is under GNU v2 ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Weaknesses with different types of NoSQL databases
Here's my question: What are the weaknesses with different types of NoSQL databases? Specifically, what're the weaknesses of key-value stores, graph data stores and document stores?
I've had an easy ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Is there any reason to use VARCHAR sizes rounded to a 128/256/4096 byte offset?
In database schema's, I often notice VARCHAR sizes are rounded to the byte offsets 128/256 or 4096. I've done it before as well, and the idea behind it was probably something with efficiency.
...
9
votes
6answers
21k views
what do database programmers do?
Every time I read about Oracle programmers etc, I get confused. I don't know what exactly they do.
From my understanding, application programmers need to develop the core functionality. The libraries ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the difference between collation and character set?
I have a general question about databases. We usually use the term collation with databases. I would like to know how its different from character set. I guess collation is a subset of character set. ...
8
votes
11answers
14k views
Using XML as data storage
I was thinking about the XML format and the following quote:
“XML is not a database. It was never meant to be a database. It is never going to be a database. Relational databases are proven ...
8
votes
7answers
2k views
Copying a competitor's database schema? [closed]
I am going to be releasing some software soon which will require users to run a local database. There is a competitor in the space that is doing the same thing and they have a pretty sophisticated ...
8
votes
2answers
317 views
When is cloud database right for me?
Some say that DBaaS (database as a service) -- aka cloud database -- is not suitable for Business Intelligence (BI), analytics (OLAP) or archiving.
Is this true? More generally, when DBaaS is the ...
7
votes
6answers
2k views
Agile methods and Databases at the start of the project
New to agile and I'm not sure how to start. The idea is to create small parts of the project in sprints. However the project I'm working of requires a database and the database must be almost ...
7
votes
4answers
473 views
What exactly does it mean that storing “large blobs in the database reduces performance”?
To someone who knows database internals this may be an easy question, but can someone explain in a clear way why storing large blobs (say 400 MB movies) in the database is supposed to decrease ...
6
votes
7answers
6k views
Best practices to follow with database indexes [closed]
What are some DOs and DONTs for improving database performance using index?
A DO would be a case in which an index should be created, or another indexes related tip that will improve performance.
A ...
6
votes
6answers
846 views
Is the “One Description Table to rule them all” approch good?
Long ago, I worked (as a client) with a software which use a centralized table for it's codified element.
Here, as far as I remember, how the table look like :
Table_Name (PK)
Field_Name (PK)
Code ...
6
votes
5answers
308 views
Storing a re-orderable list in a database
I'm working on a wishlist system, where users can add items to their various wishlists, and I plan to allow users to re-order the items later on. I am not really sure about the best way to go about ...
6
votes
3answers
465 views
Types of databases
I read that there exists three main types of databases
* Transactional (Client-Server database// OLTP database)
* Decision support system (DSS) (Data warehouse database // Data mart // Reporting ...
5
votes
9answers
7k views
Is there a large bank using Mysql or PostgreSQL? [closed]
I always thought the largest scale of banks use Oracle. However, there is no proof they really use Oracle instead of Mysql or PostgreSQL, nobody knows the secret.
Any idea what they really use? Can ...
5
votes
6answers
1k views
Database Table Prefixes
We're having a few discussions at work around the naming of our database tables. We're working on a large application with approx 100 database tables (ok, so it isn't that large), most of which can be ...
5
votes
4answers
225 views
Should I comment Tables or Columns in my database?
I like to comment my code with various information, and I think most people nowadays do so while writing some code.
But when it comes to database tables or columns, I have never seen anyone setting ...
5
votes
2answers
96 views
Tracking changes to posts
I'm currently in the process of writing a support ticket system... Let's say it's a small forum application, or something like Uservoice.
Now I want my users to be able to edit their tickets, but ...
4
votes
3answers
594 views
Set modified date = created date or null on record creation?
I've been following the convention of adding created and modified columns to most of my database tables. I also have been leaving the modified column as null on record creation and only setting a ...
4
votes
6answers
126 views
Arguments for storing binary asociations in a single field vs. in a mapping table?
When do you draw the line between relational tables, and fields holding multiple values of a particular type. Let me illustrate in an example below where a PokeMaster can be associated to multiple ...
4
votes
5answers
1k views
Structuring database for multi-object “activity” and “following” functionalities
I am working on a web application which operate with different types of objects such as user, profiles, pages etc. All objects have unique object_id.
When objects interact it may produce "activity", ...
4
votes
2answers
5k views
Why NoSQL over SQL? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When would someone use MongoDB (or similar) over traditional RDMS?
How well the SQL and NoSQL go head-to-head. I read somewhere that SQL databases are not well for data ...
4
votes
2answers
739 views
Which design better when use foreign key instead of a string to store a list of id
I'm building online examination system. I have designed to table, Question and GeneralExam. The table GeneralExam contains info about the exam like name, description, duration,...
Now I would like to ...
4
votes
5answers
989 views
graph or relational database?
I'm starting to think that a lot of my tables could be replaced by only a graph db:
For example:
I have 4 tables: accounts, votes, posts, relationships
but I can represent all these in a graph table ...
4
votes
3answers
603 views
Which aspect of normal forms do entity-attribute-value tables violate, if any?
I'm not asking if EAV tables are good or bad. I'm wondering if they are considered "normalized", and if not, why? If they aren't normalized, which normal form are they violating and why?
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Document-oriented vs Column-oriented database fit
I have a data-intensive application that desperately needs a database make-over.
The general data model:
There are records with RIDs, grouped together by group IDs (GID). The records have arbitrary ...
3
votes
5answers
694 views
Good techniques to speed up database execution
I have an ASP.Net application that is using a MySQL database. My queries are not executing as fast as I would like them too. Are there some standard ways to increase the speed of a MySQL database ...
3
votes
8answers
572 views
about database design
My question consists of three parts:
When to be sure that your database design is perfect?
Is returning to the data base design to change some issues (like adding new column, delete a column or ...
3
votes
3answers
394 views
Is it better to use a switch statement or database to look through 5,000 to 10,000 instances?
I have some JSON data in this format (5,000 instances for now):
{"id":"123456","icon":"icon.png","caseName":"name of case"}
I am allowing the user to search for the name of the case and then return ...
3
votes
3answers
3k views
How to design a database wherein multiple tags(string) are to be associated with an id?
I have to design a database wherein I have to associate an audio_id with multiple tags(words). I am considering following approaches to select one from these:
1) To have multiple fields for multiple ...
3
votes
5answers
471 views
Problems in coordination between software and database teams
This is pretty much a "software process" question:
When your organization is split into two teams: software team and database engineering team (the organization is in ETL/BI/Data mining delivering ...
3
votes
6answers
450 views
Should a database table(s) structure match its intended data structure(s) in the logic?
This question branches out of this question, What are the differences between algorithms using data structures and algorithms using databases?.
The General Question
Should a database table(s) ...
3
votes
5answers
241 views
Violating SQL principles
I have to write a decent size database, 1GB more or less.
I have only taken an introductory semester regarding SQL databases. During the course we learned that the relational model under SQL has no ...
3
votes
2answers
269 views
Which database paradigm is suggested for a site with search capabilities?
Currently I'm trying to select the best DB paradigm to implement a web site with full-text search and faceted search capabilities. I have an important functional requirement:
The database paradigm ...
3
votes
4answers
524 views
When should a database table use timestamps?
First a note, I thought maybe this question belonged in the database exchange, but I think it is more broadly related to a programming solution as a whole than to databases. Will move to database ...
3
votes
4answers
595 views
Which database should I use to manage relationship?
I need 2 capabilities:
calculating mutual friends distinguishing between different types of edges, (e.g. FRIEND, ENEMY and other)
getting relationships distinguishing between different types of ...
3
votes
5answers
235 views
Is it useful to keep 'definition' entities in a database vs using an enum?
In a project that I have started working on, the database has a lot of FooDefinition tables which act like an enum. It's a C# project using Entity Framework although that is not central to the ...
