Re: Perl/DBI

>> > If you are not interested in using the modules, it is not actually that
>> hard
>> > to roll your own.  In the past I have done different things for total
>> > counts, either two separate queries, one just a 'SELECT COUNT(*)' and
>> the
>> > other to actually fetch the data.  Depending on your data you might be
>> able
>> > to add the count into your data fetching query but probably not.
>> >
>> > Why do you not want to use the modules?
>> 
>> Thank you Tyler, I hadn't though about just using select COUNT(*).
>> 
>

> One thing people sometimes do if they have a lot of rows (a whole lot) is to
> actually keep a separate table that stores the count and then you can just
> select from that.  It is not recommended unless you really have a lot of
> rows because it de-normalizes the database.  The count() should work fine
> however.
>

Keep in mind that count() is database dependent, even database-engine 
dependent. For instance, mySQL's MyISAM engine keeps a running count of the 
number of rows in a table, so count() is cheap. Buy the InnoDB engine does 
*not* keep that running total, so count() is relatively expensive. If you're 
talking a few hundred or thousand rows, it shouldn't be a problem--but if 
you're talking large numbers (six million rows of genomic data, anyone), 
then it'll probably be an issue.

Paul