Christian Koch on Database Design

Answers to database design questions by Christian Koch, Berlin, Germany
Date: 3 January 2015

Please explain (or briefly describe) the general philosophy behind your database design approach.

     Generalized forms and functions ... standardization ... performance ... usebality.
     I prefer using ADO connections because of performance in the LAN or WAN and the possibility of easy changing between different databases like Access, MSSQL and MySQL.

What is something you have seen done repeatedly in database design work done by others people which you find to be particularly annoying or detrimental?

     I do not like absolute individual code ... I try to use generalized and standardizised functions as often as possible.
     I like the data clearly represented ... so I often use subforms (1 to many relations).

Given that you are database specialist, how does what do you while creating your database architecture save clients time and/or money?

     I developed a front end system. After setup you can access your data with all important functions you need.

Where do you live?

     I work as a service manager for a german big company (magenta).

Briefly describe your pertinent work and/or educational background.

     I studied computer science on Technical University Darmstadt in germany.

What are the industries you have the most experience working within?

     Most experience I have with data for computer systems and adresses.

Your rate is higher what other programmers and freelancers charge. How does what you do with database design save clients and companies money in the long run?

     I can save money because my system is flexible and generalized.
     Every page is based on the same system.

You have special expertise in database design. How is what you do different from what a generalist computer programmer might do when it comes to creating a database back end?

     My approach is different because I have created programming rules over the years.

When you look at database design work done by generalist programmers or other people with limited DB design expertise, what is the most insane or annoying thing you see repeatedly?

     I try to keep the tables in the normal forms (first, second, third ...).

How is the database design work you do distinct from and also integrated with other aspects of overall software/technology systems?

     I do not often use DAO. Only for the frontend.

Given an assignment to create a website from scratch for Company X, what RDBMS are you using? (website specs: principle table has 10,000 rows and will grow to 200,000 over next five years; admin back-end, general browsing, user logins; no more than 100 concurrent users)

     I would use MySQL with php ... like I did on my website.

What other technologies are you using for this website?

     PHP, JQuery, HTML, CSS3