number of columns in mysql.

[Anon]

lets say i have a mass of data to put into a database record that is all related by one common element, and none of the individual pieces of data are related to each other in any way.

is it better to store the record in 1 table or break it up into multiple tables?

it seems obvious to me to put it all in 1 table as it is unrelated data related to 1 common attribute, but when discussing this design with a seasoned oracle developer he said i should put it in multiple tables to make it look better (?!?)

are there ANY advantages of this?

[Anon]

I agree with the developer that you spoke with. I hate looking at, and trying to figure out, tables that store everything under the sun. Since you have a bunch of fields that all relate to 1 field it's a nicer design to have your releated fields stored in a small table and linked to the main field that is stored in another table.

So instead of having a table that looks like this:

main_field_id primary key
main_field
related_field_1
related_field_2
related_field_3
.
.
related_field_n

You would have 2 tables that look like this:

main_field_id primary key
main_field

related_field_id primary key
main_field_id foreign key
related_field

Then it doesn't matter how many relations you have your tables will be small and effecient. Plus very clean looking. And if for whatever reason you need to add new relations, or remove old releations you won't have holes in your 1 table, or be forces to alter the table to add another relation. This is a much better database design, as long as your data fits into this. If you don't think it will send me a sample of the data and I'll show you how the tables can be built to work with them.