Hello, I am new to database design.

I have the following problem: I need to keep track of which university courses go with which textbooks(ISBN). However, one course can require multiple textbooks; similarly, one textbook can be used in multiple courses.

The solution I've designed is:

course(PK)
ISBNlist

Where ISBNlist is a string of comma delimited ISBN numbers.

Is there a better solution to this problem?

Thank you.

why yes there is.

table: course
course PK

table: book
ISBN PK

table: course2book
course
ISBN

Hello, thank you for your help.

I just want to make sure, it's okay to make tables with no PK?

Or... in the table book2course, should I use a two-column PK (course, isbn)?

Yes, using the two-column pk is one good solution.

well here is what you should begin with?
1. first of all start thinking about NORMALIZING your database.Because using delimitors is not only bad database design rather its also inefficient. Straight forwardly "ISBN's Should Never Be Comma Seperated".Atleast Normalize your Database to 3NF

Once you are done with this , I am sure your will find solutions to all your problems