Hey

I am completely new to databases and am attempting what seems to me a mammoth mission. I wish to create a database to:

- show a number of recipes and their ingredients
- list the ingredients from 4 different suppliers
- quantify how much of each ingredient should be ordered for varying group sizes
- show the orders to be placed from 4 different suppliers

Am I taking something a little too big on or is this something I can do?

Ideas and thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Lets start by establishing your terminology...

" I wish to create a database to: "

NO - You want to create an APPLICATION which uses a database (or individual data tables).

The APPLICATION allows users to do things with the data from the database tables (or non-contained data tables) such as Enter, Modify, Read, Report on..., etc.

The DATABASE is where the data 'lives'. Sometimes this is a container holding and managing any number of individual data tables. Other times this is not a 'database' at all, but just a bunch of 'free' (non-contained) data tables - depending on the language used.

If you are totally new to software development, the project you are defining is not a small challenge.

You might find off-the-shelf applications by doing a Google search for:
recipe application
or
recipe software

If you want to use this as a learning opportunity, great.

Start by breaking the project down to a few very simple small tasks and doing the development on those, then over time merge the individual tasks into an over-all application.

The language that you use may or may-not be independent from the 'database', since a few 'databases' such as SQL Server, etc. have no tools by themselves to build the application, they are the SERVER which manages the data. The front-end application is where the users work and it may be in a language all its own.

Some other 'database' environments provide both the application development (front-end) tools in addition to back-end data tables (contained or not).

The choice of development languages can be based on a number of criteria:
* current familiarity with the language
* who will the users be and what their resources might be
* cost
* how LARGE will the data set end up being
* required development speed
* etc.

Good Luck

sounds more like a homework assignment, actually

If you could give us some insight into what you were trying to accomplish, that would help us give you better answers.

Your comment about "is this too much" makes me very uncomfortable trying to give you advice. I'm used to people having specific goals and looking for ways to accomplish those goals. It seems like your goals must be unstated if you are willing to change the definition of what you want to do based on the amount of work it involves. In order to give you usable advice, we need to understand what you want to do... Without that understanding we are shooting at a target that we can't see, and that often gets messy!

-PatP