Database Design Basics by Nicholas Brown

As with any project, taking time to plan ahead now will save you and your business a lot of time down the road. A common mistake with database development is that the designer fails to think ahead. This usually leads to the development of a database that is unable to handle all the needs of the company. Unfortunately, once a database is created and implemented, it is very hard to go back and make changes. This is why planning ahead is so crucial. I have provided a few tips below that will help you to avoid these common mistakes. With a little planning and some hard work, your database will be able to work at its full potential.

Before even looking at your computer, sit down with a tablet of paper and brainstorm. Create a list of all the things that you want your database to do (i.e. inventory tracking, client contact, billing, shipping, etc.). Once you have done this, create a sub-list for each of the items you came up with from the previous step. This list should include any items or useful information that will need to be collected. For example, if you would like to track shipping, you will probably want to collect information such as: date shipped, method of shipping, price of shipping, shipping details such as weight and dimensions, date delivered, etc. Remember to think ahead to what you will want to do with this information later. This information, for example, can be used to estimate shipping costs for the following year based on the previous year’s costs.

Once you have completed your list, it’s time to begin the basic design of the database. At this point, many designers begin to think about form creation and reports. However, the most important step following brainstorming is in developing your tables. Once these tables have been created, they will be difficult to change later. For this reason, take your time and make sure you have everything you need.

The next step is to test your tables. Take information that you already have available to you (previous sales logs, etc.) and see if all the information can be placed somewhere that will be easy to access. This will ensure that you can at least collect what you have already been collecting.

As a final piece of advice, add a “comment” field to your tables so that notes can be made pertaining to the data. This is especially helpful when trying to look back at information later. A simple comment can help to clarify information that might otherwise be very difficult to understand.