How will be better

Question

MySQL

Tell me please. I read a lot about database normalization, but a question arose.
There is a table name: id, name, birthday
There is a table album: id, id_name, name
In id_name I insert id from name.
What is better to insert an id and do Join in the request, or is it better to insert the name into id_name at once (taking into account the fact that the name will not change)?
Thank you.

Answer 1

The question is a little unclear. But if you are talking about how to make a bunch, then it is better by a numeric ID. That is, name->id = album->name_id. For the simplest link by ID, you do not need to create an index. And of course it is better to use InnoDB tables with foreign keys.

Answer 2

If to do in a smart way:
1. It is necessary to make the intermediate table between name and album. There will be only two fields id_name and id_album. Both fields must be indexes. unique indexes.
2. Left join should be done double when selecting by album. Yes, and by name too.
3. name rename to Artist. This is the list of performers, right?
4. Add a Band table. Keep the name of the group in it.
5. Add id_band to album table.