Once you have the proof complete, then add a database correctly. **, With CSV: Hard to join the values to the lookup table they reference.**. It's a defensible choice, but that doesn't make it correct or good. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653507#3653507, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653532#3653532, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653497#3653497. FANBOYS is an acronym made from the first letter of each coordinator— For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.. clause – (1) a finite clause—one or more noun phrases together with a predicator (a verb) that combine to express a complete thought (a stand-alone sentence); (2) a nonfinite clause—a verb or a verb with complements that express limited meaning (not a stand-alone sentence). Input numbers are specified in a comma-separated list format, so we use the comma symbol in the input separator option. These users are either misguided or stating a religious conviction. Easiest way to convert int to string in C++. Agreed with @thavan. More here. rev 2021.2.12.38571, Sorry, we no longer support Internet Explorer, Stack Overflow works best with JavaScript enabled, Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers, Programming & related technical career opportunities, Recruit tech talent & build your employer brand, Reach developers & technologists worldwide. I would probably take the middle ground: make each field in the CSV into a separate column in the database, but not worry much about normalization (at least for now). Why didn't Escobar's hippos introduced in a single event die out due to inbreeding. Can’t enforce uniqueness: no way to prevent. Depending on ui, values can be split[] e.g. Paul, I agree. With CSV: Hard to search for all entities with a given value in the list; you have to use an inefficient table-scan. How do you set, clear, and toggle a single bit? (Some users would dispute the statement in my previous paragraph, saying that "you can never know what requirements will be added in the future". I'd recommend taking the time to do it properly and view it as an opportunity to learn. With CSV: Storing integers as strings takes about twice as much space as storing binary integers. With CSV: Can't ensure that each value is the right data type: no way to prevent 1,2,3,banana,5, With XML: values in a tag can be forced to be the correct type. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/53566631#53566631. With CSV: Can't delete a value from the list without fetching the whole list. Any non-relational “optimization” benefits one type of query at the expense of other uses of the data, so be sure you know which of your queries need to be treated so specially that they deserve denormalization. In addition to violating First Normal Form because of the repeating group of values stored in a single column, comma-separated lists have a lot of other more practical problems:. This rings alarm bells. Now, I know that the correct solution would be to create a second table and properly normalize the database. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653500#3653500. For example, look at “Washington, George.” The procedure to split that into two words would be: Calculate the length of the string. Transitional words and phrases at the beginnings of sentences move us from one thought, one sentence, to the next. Its ridiculousness illustrates the point I'm making, which is that it makes no sense to warn him against something you have no reason to think he needs to be warned about. @Paul: And maybe the same attitude will lead to him being hit by a bus when he fails to look both ways before crossing the street, but you haven't warned him about that. Can’t delete a value from the list without fetching the whole list. No, it's a horrible idea. I am revising the design now that I have learnt NHibernate but back then I needed the flexibity to design the form in ASP.NET and use the textbox ids as key in the key/value pair. What was the earliest system to explicitly support threading based on shared memory? Non-plastic cutting board that can be cleaned in a dishwasher. SQL injection and database normalisation are orthogonal topics, and your digression on injection is irrelevant to the question. In Kotlin, you can declare functions inside. Comma-separated lists are wrong enough that I made this the first chapter in my book: SQL Antipatterns: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Database Programming. Can’t use foreign key constraints to link values to a lookup table; no way to enforce referential integrity. The form contains some more fields, this is only one part of the form (which I did not explain well in the question). harder to do efficient queries) and may cause maintenance issues if you modify the items in your form. This is short and readable which is great, but is this the fastest way to do it in c++? With CSV: Hard to count elements in the list, or do other aggregate queries. How to use stringstream to separate comma separated strings [duplicate] Ask Question Asked 8 ... @DmitryGusarov It's a habit and a good practice. Mark Twain TWEET THIS LIST OF POSITIVE ADJECTIVES FROM A TO Z “POSITIVE DESCRIBING WORDS” Notice! Bad Words. Is storing a delimited list in a database column really that bad? If you have a fixed number of boolean fields, you could use a INT(1) NOT NULL (or BIT NOT NULL if it exists) or CHAR (0) (nullable) for each. I just always find it as a very noisy and had-to-read syntax. There's very few "horrible" ideas in sw development - mostly they're just ideas with very limited applicability. Find the position of the comma (this shows where one word ends and the other begins). If those other queries aren't important to your application, then the pain is less. I always hear some people saying that "my design is more flexible than yours" when I confront them about things like not setting up foreign key constraints, or storing lists in a single field. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Telling someone who has maintained the app for 4 years about maintenance concerns is a bit presumptuous. It doesn't matter in short examples, but. Is there specific reasoning for this? Where is the line at which the producer of a product cannot be blamed for the stupidity of the user of that product? Join Stack Overflow to learn, share knowledge, and build your career. You do lose the flexibility of making queries but on the other hand, if you have a library that persists/derpersists the key value pair then it's not a that bad idea. querying an XML list in sql server using Xquery. In general anything can be defensible if it meets the requirements of your project. Placing a comma-separated list of key:value pairs within the braces adds initial key:value pairs to the dictionary; this is also the way dictionaries are written on output. Sometimes it is advantageous to work to the requirements you have before you.). I needed a multi-value column, it could be implemented as an xml field, It could be converted to a comma delimited as necessary. And probably this is why it never lead to problem in C# / Java. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/17620576#17620576, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653657#3653657, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653520#3653520. You need to separate the data into logical fields/columns/whatever you want to call them before you can manipulate it meaningfully at all. I think I found an error in an electronics book. Can’t ensure that each value is the right data type: no way to prevent 1,2,3,banana,5; Can’t use foreign key constraints to link values to a lookup table; no way to enforce referential integrity. With XML: storage is even worse than a csv. How to create a spiral using Golden Triangles. In general, storing data in this way is suboptimal (e.g. There are some things in there I'm not entirely happy with, one of them is the topic of this question. Transitional Words and Phrases. Your fine doing lightweight for proof of concept, just don't make things you have to unmake later. Are my equations correct here? Copy the left-hand side of the string up until the comma. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad/3653541#3653541.