Need a "Hand Holding" Solution

[mtorbin]

Hey all,

I'll cut to the chase. I need to learn how to build a small database and access it using a Macintosh development platform. What is the best way to do this? I already understand the concept of a database, I just need to figure out the code associated with it and find a decent software package. Any help would be much appreciated.

- MT

Matt Torbin
Web and Graphic Arts Engineer
PEI-Genesis

http://www.peigenesis.com

aim: dgtlby
direct email: mtorbin_at_earthlink.net

 

[BabyJeffy]

I'm assuming you are referring to MacOSX when you say "macintosh". So... how about you look at using Apache, PHP and mySQL. All are free... Apache comes pre-installed already... and the remaining software is a free download.

Now... getting them to talk to one another is a little tricky... but once you have done the initial installation, you can use TextWrangler (a great free text editor tailored to web development on the Mac) to edit your PHP files and the console program that comes with mySQL to design/build/manage your databases (or install a practical web-based tool to this for you).

At least... that's the cheapest and most "bullet-proof" solution for a professional web development environment on a Mac that I've come across... and totally workable in commercial environment.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[mtorbin]

Yeah, I think that's the way I'm going to go. I picked up a book last night so I'm hoping the learning curve won't be that impossible. With Javascript and some perl under my belt, it shouldn't be, right?

- MT

Matt Torbin
Web and Graphic Arts Engineer
PEI-Genesis

http://www.peigenesis.com

aim: dgtlby
direct email: mtorbin_at_earthlink.net

 

[BabyJeffy]

Perl is always handy... but hardly a requirement nowadays. I'm not trying to belittle Perl - it's perfect for certain types of development (scraping webpages and feeds springs to mind immediately) but for the "standard run of the mill" solution that you are initially aiming for, I reckon not worth the effort just yet.

PHP is a very simple (and well documented) scripting language that you run server-side before the web page is delivered to the client. The syntax of PHP is very "Javascript-like" and given that you can re-use a lot of your javascript knowledge client-side, it would definately make sense to get to grips with it.

I would bookmark the PHP manuals (online - use google), get the O'Reilly book "Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference (2nd Edition)" as a Javascript/HTML/CSS reference, and learn by reading other people's code (freely available on so many PHP and script sites nowadays).

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[mtorbin]

Thanks Jeff! I picked up the Visual Quckstart Guide last night and my company (thankfully) is willing to pay for training.

- MT

Matt Torbin
Web and Graphic Arts Engineer
PEI-Genesis

http://www.peigenesis.com

aim: dgtlby
direct email: mtorbin_at_earthlink.net