Database Design

Design databases that scale and stay maintainable. Normalisation, ER diagrams, relationships, indexing strategies, partitioning, migrations, and the trade-offs between relational and NoSQL models.

FundamentalsTopics 1–9

·What is a database?
·The relational model
·Choosing data types
·Primary keys
·Foreign keys & referential integrity
·ER diagrams
·First Normal Form (1NF)
·Second Normal Form (2NF)
·Third Normal Form (3NF)

Start Fundamentals →

IntermediateTopics 10–18

·Many-to-many relationships
·One-to-one relationships
·Self-referential relationships
·Denormalisation
·Index types & when to use them
·Composite indexes
·Constraints
·NULL semantics in schema design
·Default values & generated columns

Start Intermediate →

AdvancedTopics 19–27

·Schema migrations
·Table partitioning
·Sharding strategies
·NoSQL document models
·Key-value & wide-column
·Time-series data design
·Soft deletes vs hard deletes
·Audit trails & history tables
·Multi-tenancy patterns

Start Advanced →

ProductionTopics 28–35

·Naming conventions
·Connection pooling
·Read replicas & write patterns
·CQRS & event sourcing
·Schema design for performance
·Data archiving & retention
·Schema anti-patterns
·Living schema & documentation

Start Production →

What you'll be able to design

By the end of this guide you'll be able to read and design schemas like the one below, a real-world e-commerce model showing one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many, and self-referential relationships all working together.

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A complete e-commerce schema, every relationship type covered in this guide, working together