plutherus

Writing a Web Based Database for the Complete Beginner, Part 3: MySQL


Last time, we got Apache up and running. Today, we're going to install MySQL Server and write a simple database to test it. Which will also involve finding some kind of nice administration tool to manipulate the database with, so I don't have to do a whole bunch of command line SQL statements.

( Cut for size )

A new project. What it is and why I'm doing it.

Yep, I have decided that I don't know nearly enough about database design and implementation. I can describe one OK, at least good enough for a DBA to figure out what I'm talking about and implement what I need. But I really should be able to do at least simple database design myself and not be completely dependent on our DBAs for everything.

That, and I want to learn Java, as it keeps coming up in various job interviews and workplace discussions. Although I'm not now, nor intending to be, a full-time professional programmer, there are a variety of instances where a knowledge of Java would be helpful to my job. Currently, I rely on Perl for most of these tasks, and while it gets the job done I think some things could go more efficiently.

Also, I have a friend who's an archaeologist, and wanted to do something to help out. I think a database of artifacts and other discoveries could be quite useful. Currently, all this information is kept on paper in three-ring-binders and other places. There are also analyses of the artifacts in various locations, and additional information about the items, places, and cultural contexts in various locations. I thought it might be more useful if all of this information was online and tied together in some logical format.

In addition, the non-profit organization I work with, Geeks Without Borders, desperately needs a better inventory management system. I thought these two projects may not be entirely unrelated, and the latter could be implemented as a simplified version of the former.

And, finally, in starting this, I have discovered a lack of good, easy, “how-to” documentation geared toward complete beginners. So, these blog entries will be an attempt to remedy that. I'll tag each one “Database”, so you can click on that tag to get a list, from the beginning, of every one. We'll see how far we get.

Throughout this whole thing, feel free to comment, make suggestions, ask questions. I'm not the teacher here, but it is my hope that by documenting my learning process, others may find the whole thing useful after I have made some actual progress.