by Zak Ruvalcaba IN THIS CHAPTER What Is a Database? The Database Management System (DBMS) The Database Beyond the Basics Designing the Web Store Database Creating Relationships Between the Tables As you begin to build dynamic Web applications using Dreamweaver MX, it will become increasingly obvious that you need to store data and allow its access through your application. Whether you are building a small, company-wide intranet store with access limited to employees or a feature-rich Internet Web store that millions will visit, you will need some system for storing all the order, customer, cost, and product information. You may not want to stop there; you might want to include some way of tracking how many of a certain item you have left in your inventory. You might need to determine how many items are selling during a particular week of the month; if that is the case, you will need some way of determining sales transactions. Like a filing cabinet that stores files and, subsequently, data within those files, you will need some system of storing all your data for easy access and quick retrieval. In 1970, E. F. Codd, an employee with IBM, proposed his idea for what would become the first relational database design model. His model, which proposed new methods for storing and retrieving data in large applications, far surpassed any idea or system that was in place at that time. His idea of "relational" stemmed from the fact that data and relationships between them were organized in "relations," or what we know today as tables. Even though Codd's terminology of what we know today as tables, columns, and rows was different, the premise behind the relational model has always remained consistent. Although the model has undergone revisions and changes over the past 30-plus years, the idea of storing and retrieving information in large applications has not changed, solidifying the need for the relational database model. |