Storing Objects in database

[cuantica]

Hi, I have an class that it is extended by two subclasses, each one adds new properties to manage its own characteristics wich differ from the other one.. At this moment I´m a bit confused how to store this objects in the database. (mysql)

Should I create a table for each new subclass to store each object type in a different table or should I store the three different objects in the same table and create extra fields for its own properties?

[alvinkoh]

Hi cuantica,

Personally, I would store all the properties/attributes of the class (including it's subclasses) in a single larger table.

To break up the classs (with inherited properties) in to 3 tables seem overly complicated and would only benefit the system if these 2 sub classes already had their own tables.

Although it may not be the best practise, I tend to seperate the OOP logic of classes/objects from the way the the tables are actually structured - due to the fact that DBs tend to be relational and forcing them to be identical in principal, tends to introduce overhead in terms of system resources and also increases the complexity of applications.

My 2 cents,
Alvin.

[Shrike]

Why not just serialize() the object?

[cuantica]

Certainly serialize() would solve the initial problem, but would not be good for searching the database for certain objects already stored without having to rebuild them. Don' t you think so?