Michael Havens wrote:
> Regardless of which is easier  to do I need to learn them all! Was my list complete?
> 
>>1- HTML
>>2- PostgreSQL
>>3- PHP
>>4- Apache
>>
> 

While we're chatting up Databases and Webservers, for anyone using 
databases with a PHP environment, I highly recommend installing 
phpmyadmin and/or phppgadmin. These tools will let you build and query 
databases from a web based PHP interface. It is very nice to be able to 
see, sort, update and insert data from a web interface. The CLI is 
faster, but sometimes a different perspective is nice.

PostgreSQL and MySQL are both usable databases. MySQL was designed with 
speed and simplicity in mind (think "race car"). It is not extremely 
picky about your SQL syntax. It is also quite speedy when dealing with 
small databases. I use MySQL for small (under 50 MB) databases where the 
traffic is mostly SELECTs.

PostgreSQL was built with reliability and scalability in mind (think 
"tank"). PostgreSQL often gets "knocked" because it is slower than 
MySQL. This is because PostgreSQL should be tuned to the system it is 
on. We recently did some database tuning and a search that was taking 7 
seconds now takes 2 seconds. PostgreSQL has some very nice features 
available "out of the box" like Transactions, Views and Inheritance. You 
can do some of this with MySQL too.

As far as a roadmap for learning databases, I would read one of the SQL 
introductions on the PostgreSQL website and work though the examples. I 
would also see about finding other Free or Open PHP programs out there 
that do something similar to what you want. Start simply in your PHP, 
first just try to connect to the database and display the results of a 
SELECT. Then try adding new fields with INSERT. Make a screen to do 
UPDATEs.  As your comfort level rises, you'll understand how to plug 
more of the functions together. Finally, don't forget that there's 
always more than one way to do something -- If you get stuck using a 
fancy SQL statement, see if yuo can so it in PHP and vice-versa.

Hope this helps!
Tony





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