Archive for March, 2009

By fernando | March 9, 2009

Using the ENUM data type to increase performance

While going through the DATA TYPES section of the Certification Study Guide, I was refreshed of the ENUM datatype, which I rarely use.

I usually create individual tables for enumerations, so that new values can be added with just an insert, or deprecated values can be marked as such.

However, today I got to think about the performance issues involved in all that joining, and how could an ENUM column improve a select.

By fernando | March 6, 2009

MySQL Certification self study

I’m taking the MySQL Certification exams soon, and while I’d love to take advantage of official training, the closest classes near me will be in Buenos Aires (just a few hundred kilometers and an estuary away) in over a month, and I hope to be done with the Developer exams by then. So I’ll be [...]

By fernando | March 4, 2009

Coding Buddies

Coding Horror always has insightfull articles, and this one on code peer reviews is no exception. Why is it that writers, musicians and, well, any respected and professional artist or scientist gets his/her work reviewed before it’s published, but the same isn’t true in IT? My guess? Most programmers aren’t neither artists, nor scientists. They’re [...]