Let me start with a confession: I am, and have always been, a hacker. Code that I author is neither elegant nor efficient. It is, however, functional. Once I get something that works, I'm generally satisfied with myself - I mean, if it works, that's good enough, right? In contrast, I would never, ever take this cavalier attitude with a database, where a solid data structure is absolutely vital. If you start out with poorly arranged data, you could be in big trouble down the line, trouble from which you might never recover. Even experienced database administrators have been known to discover, halfway into a project, that their data design is flawed and they have no choice but to throw out all the code they've written so far and start from scratch.
As you tackle your first database, be prepared to make some mistakes. In fact, plan on doing a couple of practice apps before you're ready to pitch some intricate, in-house data-tracking project to your boss. (Trust me on this one.)
You need the practice because relational database design is difficult conceptually and even harder practically. If you're new to the database world, perhaps a slightly more thorough introduction to the topic will make things easier. I recommend you pick up a copy of Database Design for Mere Mortals by Michael J. Hernandez. It's written for the layperson, and presents some difficult concepts clearly. And it will fill some gaps left by this tutorial. (We'll only be covering the concepts needed to get our small project off the ground).
That said, let's get on with the tutorial. I'm going to start with a stripped-down definition of a relational database.
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