From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Jun 21 18:45:37 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C66D837B401 for ; Sat, 21 Jun 2003 18:45:37 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ren.sasknow.com (ren.sasknow.com [207.195.92.131]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E824943FBD for ; Sat, 21 Jun 2003 18:45:36 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from ryan@sasknow.com) Received: from ren (ren [207.195.92.131]) by ren.sasknow.com (8.12.6p2/8.12.6) with ESMTP id h5M1jaHt061648; Sat, 21 Jun 2003 19:45:36 -0600 (CST) (envelope-from ryan@sasknow.com) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 19:45:36 -0600 (CST) From: Ryan Thompson To: Rod Person In-Reply-To: <20030621211115.6deeb051.roddierod@hotpop.com> Message-ID: <20030621193008.V44845-100000@ren.sasknow.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: Re: Small Database Software Recommendation X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 01:45:38 -0000 Rod Person wrote to freebsd-questions@freebsd.org: > Hi Guys, > > I'm looking for a small database application to create a database of all > may dvds and cds. I think mysql my be too much overkill, since it would > be running on my laptop. Any suggestions. Yes. It's raining in Saskatoon. Feels like a rant coming on. :-) Fully define the requirements before choosing the technology. MySQL *might* be overkill. I could recommend anything from flat files to Oracle, though, and be wrong, depending on exactly what it is you want to accomplish. For a simple key/value hash that you might encounter in the decades old "album catalogue" problem, Berkeley DB, or maybe Perl's built-in %hash functions would be the way to go. Consider your requirements. What is the system for? Who will be using it? What hidden and evident features must it have? What *tasks* (a.k.a. "use cases") will the users carry out? What other less tangible goals are to be accomplished by the system? Which constraints and standards must the system adhere to? Once you have the above, you can begin to consider the architecture of your system, and, once you've done that, choosing a specific technology might be appropriate. Requirements specification is *never* overkill. As far as defining less tangible goals, though, "I want to learn ${X}" is a valid goal. Hope this helps, - Ryan -- Ryan Thompson SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com 901-1st Avenue North - Saskatoon, SK - S7K 1Y4 Tel: 306-664-3600 Fax: 306-244-7037 Saskatoon Toll-Free: 877-727-5669 (877-SASKNOW) North America