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Module #6 - Databases: Store and retrieve data with MySQL (Backend)

Have you ever thought about how your brain remembers things? It happens automatically for humans, but that's not so for computers. Any time you go to a website and you fill in some details, in for example a form, that information needs to be saved somewhere. This "somewhere" is called a database.

In this module you'll learn all about a fundamental part of any software application: how to (safely) store data, so that it can be used on-demand. You'll learn how to structure and group data so your apps know where to find and store the correct data.

Learning goals

In this module you will get familiar with the complexity of storing data. By the end of it you have learned:

• What the meaning is of a database entity
• How to work with Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Learn all about the relational model
• Recognize the basic setup of a database
• Know about MySQL as an example of a relational database system
• Learn about NoSQL databases, with an emphasis on MongoDB

Before you start

Before you start you need to install the software we'll use to store our data: MySQL.

• Download the MySQL Community Server

Note: Make sure you select the right operating system: MacOS, Windows or Ubuntu/Linux.

For a step-by-step tutorial, check out this MySQL tutorial

After you've finished installing the software, open it through your command line interface:

• Windows users should use Microsoft MySQL Command Line client.
• Linux users should use Gnome Terminal
• MacOS users should use Terminal.

Step 1: Creating a root user

To get started with your new MySQL client, we first have to create a root user.

A root user, also known as a superuser is a special user account that has access to all commands and files of any particular software.

The Microsoft MySQL Command Line client gives you a msql> prompt after typing in your root password. Note that this password is the one you used for the root user of the mysql. Linux and MAC users can execute mysql -uroot -p and then type your password.

Step 2: Creating a hyfuser account

After creating the root user, it's time to create the account we'll be using for this module. Execute the following commands, one after the other:

# Step 1: This command creates a user 'hyfuser' with password 'hyfpassword' for the database server at 'localhost'

mysql> create user 'hyfuser'@'localhost' identified with mysql_native_password by 'hyfpassword';

# If this does not work try the alternative command:

mysql> create user 'hyfuser'@'localhost' identified by 'hyfpassword';

# Step 2: This command gives all permissions to user 'hyfuser'. The (_._) means every table of every database.

mysql> grant all privileges on _._ to 'hyfuser'@'localhost';

# Step 3: This command creates a database named 'userdb'

mysql> create database userdb;

For a step-by-step walkthrough on video, you can watch the following video:

• MySQL Installation on Linux (Ubuntu)

Planning

Week	Topic	Readings	Homework	Lesson Plan
1.	What's a database, Entities, Data structures, Structured Query Language (SQL)	Readings W1	Homework W1	Lesson Plan W1
2.	Identifiers, Relationships, Domain Modeling, Advanced SQL commands	Readings W2	Homework W2	Lesson Plan W2
3.	Normalization, Transactions, SQL Injection, NoSQL (with MongoDB)	Readings W3	Homework W3	Lesson Plan W3

Finished?

Did you finish the module? You're almost at the top!

If you feel ready for the next challenge, click here to go to React!

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