Interesting steps in database development

Use the right data types

Using the wrong data type can lead to less accurate data, difficulty in merging tables, synchronizing attributes, and bloated file sizes.
To ensure the integrity of the information, an attribute must contain only acceptable data types. If an age is entered into the database, make sure that the column stores integers with a maximum of 3 digits.

Create a minimum of empty columns with a NULL value. If you create all columns as NULL, it’s a gross error. But if you need an empty column to execute a specific business function, when the data is unknown or does not make sense yet, then feel free to create one. After all, we can’t fill in the “Date of death” or “Date of termination” columns in advance, we’re not predictors pointing fingers in the sky :-).

Most data modeling software (ER/Studio, MySQL Workbench, SQL DBM, gliffy.com) allows you to create prototypes of data regions. This ensures not only the correct data type, application logic, and good performance, but also a mandatory value assignment.

Prefer natural

When you decide which column in a table to choose as the key, always pay attention to which fields the user can edit. Never choosing them as a key is a bad idea. Anything can happen, and you have to guarantee uniqueness.

It’s best to use a natural, or business, key. It is meaningful, so you avoid duplication in the database.

If only the business key is not unique (name, surname, position) and is repeated in different rows of the table or it must change, you should use a generated artificial key (artificial key) as the primary key.

Normalize to a degree

To effectively organize data in the database, you need to follow a set of recommendations and normalize the database. There are five normal forms to follow.
With normalization, you will avoid redundancy and ensure the integrity of the data used in the application or site.

As always, everything must be in moderation, even normalization. If there are too many tables with the same unique keys in the database, you have got carried away and over-normalized the database. Excessive normalization has a negative impact on database performance.

Test early, test more often

A test plan and proper testing should be part of database design.

It is best to test the database through Continuous Integration. Simulate a “One day in the life of the database” scenario and check if all boundary cases are handled, what user interactions are likely. The earlier you find bugs, the more time and money you save.

These are just seven tips you can use to design a great database for performance and efficiency. If you follow them, you’ll avoid most of the headaches in the future. These tips are just the tip of the iceberg in database modeling.