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multiple tables broken down into categories vs one table with many columns

Asked 2012-03-19T17:16:45.107
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I have one primary key (say the user's ID), and I have tons of information associated with that user.

The way I used to do it was to have multiple tables, so say, one table for application usage data, one table for profile info, one table for back end tokens etc. to keep things looking organized.

Recently some one told me that it's better not to do it that way and having a table with lots of columns is fine. The thing is, all those columns have the same primary key.

What are the pros and cons of multiple tables broken down into categories vs one table with many columns?

What's the conventional way of doing it?

mysql database-design
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I'm already done doing some sort of database design. for me, it depends on the difficulty of the system with database management; yeah it is true to have unique data in one place only but it is really hard to make queries with overly normalized database with lots of record. Just combine the two schema; use one huge table if you feel that you'll be having a massive records that are hard to maintain just like facebook,gmail,etc. and use different table for one set of record for simple system... well this is just my opinion .. i hope it could help.. just do it..you can do it... :)

answered 2012-05-10T08:05:58.207

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