I completely agree, both with the point about it being difficult to use Cake for advanced applications (or just non-standard CRUD sites) without prior knowledge of SQL, and about not picking up bad habits by developing within an MVC framework from the get-go.
Personally, I'm not as familiar with SQL as I'd like to be either (don't know how to use triggers, stored procedures, build indexes, create constraints, etc.), even though I've been developing with it for over 7 years, as I've never taken a formal course on database design/development/administration. But I have the dev.mysql.com (as well as php.net, jquery.com, Cake API/Cookbook, MDC, etc.) search tool install with search keywords configured so that I can just type "mysql distinct" into the Firefox address bar, and it will search the online MySQL documentation for the DISTINCT keyword--it doesn't work quite as well as php.net's search function, which will automatically take you to the page for that function/class/topic, but it still saves me a lot of time since I'm looking up stuff in the MySQL manual all day long. MySQL's online documentation can be quite dense at times, as it also assumes that you have formal training in SQL and relational databases, but the user comments are pretty helpful and often includes example code. But the best way to learn (aside from taking an academic course) is just to practice writing lots of MySQL queries using the command- line client or write practice PHP+MySQL apps using manual queries instead of Cake's model functions. You should do this at least until you're proficient enough in SQL that you can write your Cake application without the use of Cake's database abstraction (e.g. know how to use SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, as well as basic uses of joins and even subqueries). Once you've done that, then you can let Cake handle most of the menial queries and use GUI clients to administer your database. On May 11, 11:56 pm, WebbedIT <p...@webbedit.co.uk> wrote: > It is going to be a little more difficult for you coming to this > without any prior knowledge of databases. However, I wish I had > worked within the constraints of this framework (OOP/MVC Design > Pattern) before I had the chance to teach myself a lot of bad habits > so you have that going for you. > > Whilst book.cakephp.org does mention the use of DISTINCT and GROUP > etc. it is likely to cover them as if you already know what they do. > It may be worthwhile reading through some MySQL tutorials (I assume > you're using MySQL) just to get your head around the possibilities > open to you. > > I have never read through a tutorial from start to finish but a quick > Google found this one which seems to cover most of the functions: > > http://www.tizag.com/mysqlTutorial/ > > someone else may be able to recommend a better one though. > > HTH > > Paul. > > Check out the new CakePHP Questions sitehttp://cakeqs.organd help others with > their CakePHP related questions. > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "CakePHP" group. > To post to this group, send email to cake-php@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > cake-php+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/cake-php?hl=en Check out the new CakePHP Questions site http://cakeqs.org and help others with their CakePHP related questions. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CakePHP" group. To post to this group, send email to cake-php@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cake-php+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cake-php?hl=en
