| User | Post |
Narf
Posts: 2/100 |
A lot of columns won't do any harm, unless you overuse them and select too much data each time.
For example, my members table has 77 columns, and I really don't need the data from every single one of those 77 columns on every page on my site. |
Vystrix Nexoth
Posts: 196/348 |
right. as long as each column is unique and necessary, go nuts. perhaps post the table schema here so we can comment on it.
sloat: he's talking about 60 columns, not 60 rows. *chuckles* indeed, if 60 rows is too great a load for the SQL system to bear, then either the SQL system or the programmer utilizing it could do well with some improvements, and I'll wager it's the former. |
FreeDOS
Posts: 932/1657 |
It depends on your needs... but in general it doesn't matter if you use them responsibly. I have a users table that has 40 fields and it works perfectly. Spanning an entry across more than one row creates overhead and slows it down... because of fragmentation. 
Just keep things simple and you won't get into trouble. Making one thing have more than one row just because of you have "id" and "data" fields is not simple. |
sloat
Posts: 22/85 |
more rows are more efficient i believe.
remember, database systems are designed to be able to handle hundreds of thousands of rows, so 120 rows isn't going to hurt anything, especially if you set up an index.
i recently had a database set up with about 30,000 rows of 4 fields and i didn't notice any slowdown when accessing it. |
windwaker
Posts: 657/1797 |
The6thLime wants 60 fields instead of like 120 two fielded rows  . |
Gavin
Posts: 352/799 |
i'm really no expert on DB efficiency, but i'm just curious what would require 60 columns in a single table?
as long as all 60 are unique and necessary fields i would think it would be alright... but i believe it all depends on how you are accessing the data. i'm sure you can have a 60 field table that is technically as efficient as possible, it all depends..
like i said though, i'm no expert, i've only created a few tables before and i hardly know if they are as efficient as possible. |
windwaker
Posts: 647/1797 |
Referring to columns in SQL tables. How many is too many? If I have ~60 columns, does that affect the speed at which things are loaded (or at least, greatly). |
