Databases

Yet another layer in the scheme of your website...

Hack MySQL: MySQL tips, tuning and examples (#)

Lots to learn over at HackMySQL, and best to start in the Optimize section which covers topics from Indexing Basic MySQL Queries to How To Index For MySQL Joins and for the non-technical, Non-technical Guide to Isolating Slow MySQL Queries.

There's more stuff in there for advanced users too, and overall this relatively small but interesting website looks like a good place to go and pick up some extra tips for intermediate users, and the topics covered are a must read for people just hacking there way into mySQL.

Racker Hacker (#)

Written by Major Hayden, a Rackspace employee, this blog is a great read for those of us who are managing a server for clients who have a dedicated or virtual dedicated server (hello MT).

Major covers a lot of ground, but a great start would be Speeding up MySQL, where he offers up a few nuggets that are not usually seen in these types of posts.

Some of you probably recognize the name from his MySQLTuner script, which when run and iterated thru for a few days helps to get your my.cnf tuned up and your server performing well (keeping in mind his hints from the post linked above also helps for server performance :).

Storing an IP address in a database table (#)

A handy tip for storing IP addresses in a database "the way it was meant to be". The website itself has the odd applicable post about using mySQL in amongst all the links to conferences and such, like this quiz (answer).

MySQL Tips (#)

37 mySQL tips plus some additional links at the bottom of the page, there's a good chance that most users will find something useful here. Included are links to articles about normalization, tips for merging tables, doing a random select and many more things that may just be useful at some point!

Connect Excel to Mysql Database (#)

I haven't tried this out, but I am pretty sure that I will need this some day for something. There are also variation where, using a different ODBC driver, you can suck the data down into Access as well.

An Introduction to Database Normalization (#)

A nice simple writeup about database normalization that includes some links at the end worth following (also see MySQL Database Design). From the article:

Over the years I, like many of you, have had the experience of taking over responsibility for an existing application and its associated schema (sometimes frustratingly woven together as part of a Microsoft Access solution).

I hear ya.

MySQL date and time functions, a Two Part Series (#)

I come across a lot of code where developers fail to leverage the built in mySQL Date and Time functions.

Database Journal provides a two part series (I, II) that explain the basics and give some examples to help explore the possibilities.

Sphinx - free open-source SQL full-text search engine (#)

This is being bookmarked for future reference. From the website:

Generally, it's a standalone search engine, meant to provide fast, size-efficient and relevant fulltext search functions to other applications. Sphinx was specially designed to integrate well with SQL databases and scripting languages. Currently built-in data sources support fetching data either via direct connection to MySQL or PostgreSQL, or using XML pipe mechanism (a pipe to indexer in special XML-based format which Sphinx recognizes).

Also see: Build a custom search engine with PHP and Implementing Search.

Web Server Backup (#)

Dave provides us with a nice simple tutorial for backing up a remote Unix server to a local machine using rsync. Be sure to read the comments for some extra tips.

Check out the Resource categories for older content

The latest from my personal website,
Mike Papageorge.com

SiteUptime Web Site Monitoring Service

Sitepoint's web devlopment books have helped me out on many occasions both for finding a quick solution to a problem but also to level out my knowlegde in weaker areas (JavaScript, I'm looking at you!). I am recommending the following titles from my bookshelf:

The Principles Of Successful Freelancing

I started freelancing by diving in head first and getting on with it. Many years and a lot of experience later I was still able to take away some gems from this book, and there are plenty I wish I had thought of beforehand. If you are new to freelancing and have a lot of questions (or maybe don't know what questions to ask!) do yourself a favor and at least check out the sample chapters.

The Art & Science Of JavaScript

The author line-up for this book says it all. 7 excellent developers show you how to get your JavaScript coding up to speed with 7 chapters of great theory, code and examples. Metaprogramming with JavaScript (chapter 5 from Dan Webb) really helped me iron out some things I was missing about JavaScript. That said each chapter really helped me to develop my JavaScript skills beyond simple Ajax calls and html insertion with libs like JQuery.

The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks

Like the other books listed here, this provides a great reference for the PHP developer looking to have the right answers from the right people at their fingertips. I tend to pull this off the shelf when I need to delve into new territory and usually find a workable solution to keep development moving. This only needs to happen once and you recoup the price of the book in time saved from having to develop the solution or find the right pattern for getting the job done..