Will MySQL die soon ?

[David A. Bandel]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 9:15 AM, Ben Duncan <bend at linux4ms.net> wrote:
> LOL ...... As my best friend says "Ben, SQL was invented for those
> who do not know how to program".

I resemble that remark!

[snip]

>>
>> I just wish I knew what a left outer join was. Can't be expert at
>> everything and database dev hasn't been on my list of nightime reading.

Well, most folks that use MySQL I've found don't take advantage of a
relational database, they just create a flat file and call it a
database.  And while it is, the real power of a database comes in the
power of one-to-many, many-to-one, and even many-to-many
relationships.

If you care to understand any of this, I suggest you work through the
PostgreSQL tutorial -- it's short and explains joins extremely well.
You can see and do -- best way to learn.  When properly used, any
piece of data is used only once.  If that piece of data changes, all
other data that depends on it uses the correct data.

Flat file databases tend to repeat data.  If only one of several
identical entries is changed, tomorrow you probably can't tell me
which is the correct entry. E.g.: 3 students, one parent.  Flat file
has that parent listed 3 times, once in each student record.  If two
student records gets updated but one doesn't ...  relational databases
solve that problem when correctly constructed.  Each student should be
linked to one instance of the parent (in another table).  Change the
parent once, and the change is reflected when any student record is
accessed.

I have several different db's accessed via Firefox (web pages thrown
by perl scripts that access/update a postgres db).  They're not
pretty, but they are functional (and really fast and easy to write --
I'm not a programmer, so this is the closest I'll ever get to a
rabid^H^H^Hpid development environment).

BTW, for programming Perl, Padre is great!  Even better than vi (did I
say that?).

Ciao,

David A. Bandel
-- 
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
            - Nemesis Air Racing Team motto