Sams Teach Yourself CGI in 24 Hours, Second Edition

Q&A

Q1:	Flat-file databases seem pretty easy to use; why shouldn’t I use them instead of more powerful database applications?
A1:	One of the main reasons is performance. In order to retrieve a specific piece of information from a flat-file database, you have to search every record in order to find it. Relational databases are designed explicitly with fast retrieval of data in mind, so they provide better performance. Flat-file databases are also very crude if the record contains lots of fields, or contains fields that hold a lot of data. On the other hand, flat-file databases are almost infinitely easier to set up and administer than relational databases. If you need only one table, a flat-file database is probably the right choice.
Q2:	I already ...