several major corporations. Mark started his career in the U.S. Army and has been on the move since.
He has filled of many roles, including Database Administrator, Senior Developer, and Senior Systems
Analyst. Mark can be reached at [email protected].
Tony Butcher is a consultant specializing in the design of interactive and database-driven Web sites.
As Technology Director for Tribal Internet in the UK, he creates solutions based on MySQL in
combination with Perl and PHP3. He has designed Web sites as front-ends to vast data mines
searchable by sophisticated user queries and has created dynamic virtual communities of thousands of
people with loyalty systems and personalized publishing of information. Although he has had a varied
career, he has implemented databases in almost every job he has ever had. "We shouldn't be worried
about information overload," he might say, "What matters is how we phrase our questions."
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book in loving memory of my Father who left this world early but gave those
he touched a lifetime of memories and teachings.
—Mark
Acknowledgments

First and foremost I'd like to thank Ken Robertson for giving me the time, the insights, and the
opportunity to make this book a reality.

I'd also like to thank Carla Maslakowski. Without her push and direction, I would not have had the
career I've enjoyed.

Also, I'd like to thank David Smith of Cornerstone Information Systems, for giving me a chance when no
else would.

To all my friends at the club for helping me blow off steam when I needed to the most.

I can't forget my family for being there when I needed them most and for putting up with my bad habits.

I'd also like to thank the team at Sams Publishing, especially Shelley Johnston for making this
experience a pleasurable one.
—Mark Maslakowski
Tell Us What You Think!
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As an Associate Publisher for Sams, I welcome your comments. You can fax, email, or write me directly
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Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book, and that due
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When you write, please be sure to include this book's title and author as well as your name and phone
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Mail: Michael Stephens

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Indianapolis, IN 46290 USA

Introduction

Since before the dawn of the computer age, people have been using databases. Before

computers, a database may have been a Rolodex containing phone numbers of the important

people you knew, or it was a filing cabinet that contained all the personnel records for the

company. Today, databases are computer-based and are found virtually everywhere. From

desktop databases of your record collection to Web-enabled databases that run large corporations,