The Importance of Planning

Planning is a pain. Let's face it, all of us avoid planning!. However, if we are honest with ourselves, things always go much more smoothly with a little forethought.

Perhaps you can “make it up as you go along” with a word processing document or a spreadsheet, but not with a database!

A Word to the Wise …

To make life easier, follow these simple steps to plan your database:

• decide the primary purpose of your database
• since a good database can be used in a variety of ways, think about those secondary uses as well
• do a little brainstorming, even if it means using a pencil and paper
• write down all of the information that you want to include
• develop a list of activities that need to be done with your database
• make a list of the different categories of information that need to be included in your database, in other words, what fields do you need?
• finally, what kind of information will be stored (what is the field type) in each category?

Really useful databases are a result of carefully considered plans. Such planning will ensure that your database will meet your intended needs. If you do not plan carefully and thoughtfully, the result will be that your database will continually need to be modified.

Copyright © 2003
last updated August 12, 2003