[WEB4LIB] Database driven site design

[Peter Schlumpf]

Marc,

I'm not intending to knock the database-driven website approach, but depending
on your needs I would use it judiciously and only where there is a need for
it.  Databases can be VERY processor-intensive:  assembling pages on the fly
everytime someone hits the page can be a drag on performance and really slow
things down if you're not careful about design.

Resources that are accessed frequently and don't really change a lot over time
may be better left as static pages.  You may also want to consider the hybrid
approach of pages automatically and periodically generated by a database but
are stored and served up as static pages if performance becomes an issue.  As
a rule static pages will always be served up much faster.

Using the database-driven apporach entirely for a web site strikes me as a
strong violation of the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) and may be an
unnecessary level of abstraction and complexity that you may later regret.  It
is easy that upon discovering the fexibility and power of relational databases
to be like the person, who upon discovering the utility of a hammer, starts
treating all problems as if they were nails.

My point is not that the database driven approach is bad.  If the resource is
already stored in a database, or if the data changes very frequently, or if
the flexibility of a database is really needed, then that approach makes
perfect sense.  Otherwise, you may just want to leave things as static
pages.   The database-driven approach is appropriate for some situations, but
is certainly not superior  in all situations, and should only be used where a
database is needed.

Just my opinion.

Peter

--
Peter Schlumpf
Information Systems Specialist
North Suburban Library System
200 West Dundee Road
Wheeling, Illinois 60090
(847)459-1300

Marc Davis wrote:

> We are actively working on transitioning our web site from static HTML
> pages to database generated pages.  We'll be using the MySQL/PHP
> combination.  My question concerns designing a web site based on databases
> as opposed to static pages.
>
> I'm having difficulty finding resources that discuss basic design
> considerations, structuring navigation, etc., in the context of database
> generation.  How -- if at all -- does it differ from conventional
> best-practice site design?  Are there important considerations regarding
> the structure of databases to be used on websites (as opposed to other
> uses)?  Anyone have any useful advice/experiences/comments?
>
> I'd be particularly interested in web sites, books, articles, etc.,
> discussing this.
>
> TIA . . .
>
> Marc
>
> ======================================================
> Marc Davis         University Library        UNOmaha
>      6001 Dodge Street     Omaha, NE, 68182-0237
>         (402) 554-4949  |  Fax (402) 554-3215
>              davis at revelation.unomaha.edu
> ------------------------------------------------------
>      "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it."
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