Abstract
A database has two primary functions: to store data and to return data. In this chapter, we’re going to look at three related topics in database design: keys (or constraints), indexes, and normalization. All three of these things help us to accomplish two goals:
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To minimize the amount of space required to store data
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To minimize the amount of time and effort required to execute queries and return useful results from them
Many of the concepts that we’ll discuss are common to all relational databases but, naturally, we’ll focus on their application in MySQL.
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© 2004 Jon Stephens and Chad Russell
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Stephens, J., Russell, C. (2004). Keys, Indexes, and Normalization. In: Beginning MySQL Database Design and Optimization. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4302-0729-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4302-0729-0_3
Publisher Name: Apress, Berkeley, CA
Print ISBN: 978-1-59059-332-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4302-0729-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive