Determining the Database’s Purpose

Designing a database can be the hardest part of the whole process, and it’s one many users try to skip, to their own regret. Few developers are so smart and so in tune with the data that they can skip this task and still build a successful database application. If you learn nothing else from this chapter, remember this—do not skimp when designing your database.

After you’ve decided that you need to design your database, rather than just throwing things together, write a short mission statement on the purpose of your database. Don’t sweat over this part; the statement can be a simple sentence if that’s all that’s required. “Store and analyze wooly worm sightings for predicting subsequent winter conditions” says quite a lot. By the end of the process, you might need to update your mission statement, but that’s the whole point of the design process.