Database Programming Concepts [closed]

Question

So I've read a couple books on SQL and I've used SQL and created databases, but really nothing advanced, a couple tables, a couple joins, that sort of thing.

So now I am working on a project that is pretty big. The database is going to have multiple tables and we will be processing 40'000 to 80'000 rows of data daily.

Now I find myself lacking some basic SQL concepts, for instance:

I have a dataset with files and file details. The files are listed in one table and the file details are listed in another. We also have a build table and fourth table that joins the build table, file table and file details table together.

The problems are like, "How do I process the files and have the correct file details be associated with files and associated with a build?

Even my university didn't cover this and now I feel I am very out my depth.

Lets take one more example. Lets take the File Table. In my application I have 40'000 files, I need to add files that don't already exist to the file table. Do I have to search for each individual entry and add if it does not exist and skip if it does?

So my real question is, where is a good place to read up on general concepts?

Answer 1

The best books I've found on the subject are the "SQL for Smarties" series by Joe Celko. They cover the basics starting from normalization all the way to how to represent different data structures in SQL.