I recently encountered a situation where I had a query that was built with quite a few joins (~8), and I found that the query was taking a bit longer than I expected, especially for the number of rows to look at / return.  With each join, you add in more complexity for MySQL to […]

For a project, we have the need to create charts dynamically from data.  In another project, we’ve used ChartDirector for this.  It has worked great there, so we pulled it into this project as well.  Now, the type of charts I was working with in particular is a stacked percentage chart, which is kind of […]

26
Jan

Recently, I was tasked with creating a single-sign-on solution for phpBB, where the user would login to our application, and when clicking a link to take them to a support forum, they’d already be logged in. phpBB isn’t known for having a great API with which to integrate, but the code works, and the product […]

I’m evaluating a DataGrid for use in a project which is using the Zend Framework, and I came across the ZFDataGrid project.  Fantastic work, and the grid works wonderfully.  It enables you to filter your data and export it in various formats (PDF, Doc, Docx, OpenOffice, etc).  The sample on the site works exactly like […]

23
Dec

In my previous post, I used a key style that is open to debate and has been for many years amongst DB folks. The idea of every table having a surrogate key, regardless of the purpose of the table. This says, that for any record in the table I have a single column that acts […]

MySQL provides cascading updates / deletes with the relationships, but I tend not to use them, specifically because I want to control just how far these updates and deletes cascade!  But, given a situation where I have a design similar to this: I would like to be able to remove a single Foo, without having […]

In today’s Adventures in Database Design, we’ll take a look at a relevant topic, ICD9 data. ICD9 data is the diagnosis and procedure codes used by insurance companies to categorize, well, diagnoses and procedures to be determined / performed by medical professionals. The design is simple, but very versatile, given the type of data we’re storing.

I’ve long neglected this blog, and the power behind it to discuss my feelings toward database design.  Proper database design is the backbone to a solid application.  Failing to correctly normalize tables and enforce business logic with foreign key relationships can cause undue headaches. What I’ll be doing is going through some simple applications, and […]

My boss used an analogy today, which struck me as quite accurate for the position we’re currently in.  We’re moving at a fairly rapid pace, quick releases, and plenty of improvements / changes.  Along with this, there is new business, new ideas, and new potential sources of revenue that we’re working on. Assuming that the […]

01
Jul
stored in: Development and tagged:

With the recent license change at Nokia/Trolltech for Qt – I’ve grown more interested in learning proper GUI development, specifically with C++. I know there are bindings to other languages, but for simplicity of deployment, I think C++ will be easiest to test / depend on, as well as protect in the event that I […]