In the context of PHP programming, what are the advantages and disadvantages of adding additional tables to a database versus modifying existing tables?

Adding additional tables to a database allows for better organization and separation of data, which can improve performance and simplify queries. However, it can also lead to more complex database relationships and require additional joins in queries. On the other hand, modifying existing tables can save space and reduce redundancy, but it may require altering existing queries and potentially impacting performance. 

// Example of adding a new table to a database
<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "myDB";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// SQL to create a new table
$sql = "CREATE TABLE new_table (
id INT(6) UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
email VARCHAR(50),
reg_date TIMESTAMP
)";

// Execute query
if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
  echo "Table new_table created successfully";
} else {
  echo "Error creating table: " . $conn->error;
}

// Close connection
$conn->close();
?>

Keywords

database design table normalization data redundancy schema changes performance impact

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