#Free relational database how to#
#Free relational database install#
#Free relational database code#
#Free relational database license#

This foundational Master database (in this example) contains all the information thatвЂ™s on your driverвЂ™s license. This unique number is called a Key Field, which is used to connect a flat-file database to other associated databases (called relational databases).

#Free relational database license#

Your license contains your name, gender, height, weight, eyes and hair color, address, date of birth, license issue and expiration date, license class.Д«ecause itвЂ™s possible to have multiple people with the same name, address, gender, and description (like a father and son), driverвЂ™s licenses all have license numbers. PostgreSQL is included in a number of popular Unix distributions, but itвЂ™s less suitable for example purposes here, as itвЂ™s not available as a precompiled Windows binary and will only run under NT-based versions of Windows.For example, your driverвЂ™s license is a single record in a flat-file database that resides on a computer at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

#Free relational database code#

(Some database mavens would still argue that MySQL isnвЂ™t truly deserving of the вЂњrelational DBMSвЂќ moniker, but we donвЂ™t want to get into a philosophical argument here.)ДЄs an alternative to MySQL, you could download the source code for PostgreSQL, another free, open-source relational database management system.

In its newer versions, MySQL also supports transactions, which helps ensure data integrity by making sure that related updates happen on an all-or-nothing basis. Plus it runs fine even on modest hardware and itвЂ™s offered as part of some Web-hosting plans, should you decide to use it for building a Web-based application. Why MySQL? Not only is it an extremely popular choice in the free-software world, but itвЂ™s downloadable in precompiled binary form for a wide variety of platforms. That said, the concepts we cover here are broadly applicable to almost any RDBMS, and you should be able to apply the examples to other RDBMSes with relatively minor adaptations. To avoid getting bogged down detailing differences between database implementations, weвЂ™re going to state up front that we use MySQL 3.23 as the reference platform for this story.

In practical terms, this means that code written for one RDBMS often wonвЂ™t run unaltered on another. RDBMSes also vary in the data types they provide, their support for capabilities such as transactions, triggers, and relational integrity, and so on. Unfortunately, although the American National Standards Institute has ratified three formal SQL standards, thereвЂ™s considerable variation in the SQL dialects implemented by various products. SQL, of course, is the de facto standard language for manipulating relational databases.

This approach can even suffice for moderate-sized Web or intranet sites.

Though these products are client-server applications, for many purposes you donвЂ™t need any dedicated database server hardwareвЂ“you can simply run the client and server on a single machine.

#Free relational database install#

In order to run the sample code in this story and to experiment on your own, youвЂ™ll obviously need to have access to, or install your own copy of, a relational DBMS. WeвЂ™ll review basic database concepts, demonstrate the use of SQL (Structured Query Language) to manipulate and query data, and ultimately illustrate how you can harness the power of relational databases using some of your favorite programming languages and Web development tools.ДЄ Note on Database Choices and Compatibility

#Free relational database how to#

In this three-part series weвЂ™ll show you how to get started with free relational database management software.