Relational Databases Overdue 101

Soooo much progress this weekend! Progress in understanding if not the actual codebase…super happy about that. I got all of my models re-done using migrations and started working on adding in the associations. But I realized I had a pretty big blind spot when it came to associations—I know what they do and the general concepts, but translating the concepts I know into Sequelize language wasn’t really working, and I definitely had made some mistakes in my original attempts.

Relational Databases 101

So I went back and found a course to go in-depth on database design, and took the time to model out my models (which I probably should have done in the first place!). Super thankful to my employer on this one—we get LinkedIn Learning formerly known as Lynda.com for free and I found the perfect course: Learning Relational Databases.

The course reviewed the database development lifecycle, talked about gathering requirements, and then did a big section on designing databases. The biggest benefit for me was reviewing cardinality and optionality, and it was actually taught in a different (and more understandable) way than I’d learned before. Going through the course, I was able to visually map out my data tables and their relations. This became the bible for adding associations!

Adding Associations

I also got a few of these implemented and the database feels a lot more solid than it did before. Feeling pretty good that I will be able to more forward finally in not very much time at all!