Ask HN: Many-to-Many relation by default, is that a good strategy?

2 points by _448 3y ago ↗ HN

Defining entities and their relationships at the start of a project is difficult if the requirements keep changing frequently or are not defined (for example, in a startup setup).

So, in that case starting with Many-to-Many relationship for entities, and then optimising the relationship as things become clear is a good database design strategy?

4 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 14.3 ms ] thread

PaulHoule 3y ago ↗

That means adding a lot more tables doesn't it?

_448 3y ago ↗

Yes, it will add more tables. But as the project progresses, this will be reduced once the relationship between the entities are clear. What I am worried about though is the performance.

mneil 3y ago ↗

https://www.guru99.com/database-normalization.html

You usually can get by with 4th normal form but go wild, take it to 11 and it's all you should ever need.

kasey_junk 3y ago ↗

You could use blob storage until you know the relationships.

You lose a lot of the value of relationships in a schema if you don’t know what they are