Storing large amounts of data related to each user?

Question

I am designing a flashcard website for learning languages, right now I have a table for user login info, and a table for vocabulary.

I have an area to test your knowledge for conjugation of verbs/adjectives/etc so I need to check for multiple readings, I can do this, but I need to save this data So I can have it that once you learn certain words to proficient level, you unlock more.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of MySQL is limited so I'm unsure of how to do this without create an astronomical amount of entry.

Basically for each item (vocab word) I need to save right/wrong percent for anywhere from 1 to 4 readings, and also a date for when the next review is due, and this is for EACH user, for EACH item.

I'm not asking for anyone to just do all my work for me, but if someone could point me towards some information on how to go about storing such a large amount of data (fairly efficiently) that'd be great.

Realistically it doesn't have to be enterprise efficientcy, as it'll just be me and maybe some friends using it (maybe like 100 users tops?) but it can't be horrible either :/

Answer 1

As this is more of a discussion question, I'll take my best shot!

MySQL is probably the best option to store large amounts of data. Facebook uses MySQL, and you can only image the amount of data they have on everyone!

The benefits of MySQL: 1, Best for beginners 2, The "goto" database language for PHP 3, Massively open source

The biggest thing to keep in mind the your structure of your database. You can handle an uber amount of information, but just keep in mind that setting data types can, and will, restrict the amount of space for specific columns.

Some other resources that you might look into:

MySQL TEXT/BLOB columns

PostgreSQL