Storing Hierarchical Data in a Database
Whether you want to build your own forum, publish the messages from a mailing list on your Website, or write your own cms: there will be a moment that you'll want to store hierarchical data in a database. And, unless you're using a XML-like database, tables aren't hierarchical; they're just a flat list. You'll have to find a way to translate the hierarchy in a flat file.
Storing trees is a common problem, with multiple solutions. There are two major approaches: the adjacency list model, and the modified preorder tree traversal algorithm.
In this article, we'll explore these two methods of saving hierarchical data.
