should I go ahead and learn how to use mysql first?

That really depends upon what you are doing. MySQL is fast and it's okay for simple apps like guestbooks and things like that, but it's really not a great option for most serious work. It doesn't have built in foreign key restraints, doesn't allow views or multi-level selects. Probably the worst part about it is that it does not support transactions (these let you "rollback" changes if any changes fail). If, in the future, you need to expand the capabilities of your system, you may find that MySQL is a limitation -- though using DBI will alleviate much of the pain of switching to a new database.

Of course, if all you have access to on your system is a choice between MySQL and flat files, I'd go with MySQL any day of the week.

I know the basics of databases and sql. How should I begin learning to work with them?

Believe it or not, the evil empire actually has a good discussion of fundamental relational database design.

Cheers,
Ovid

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