Question

I am setting up a model where two players are involved in a competition. I’m leaning towards this model:

def match(models.Model):
    player = ForeignKey(Player)
    opponent = ForeignKey(Player)
    score = PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    games_won = PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    games_lost = PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    won_match = BooleanField()

There are statistics involved, however, and it would require another pull to find the matching record for the opponent if I want to describe the match in full.

Alternatively I could set up the model to include full stats:

def match(models.Model):
    home_player = ForeignKey(Player)
    away_player = ForeignKey(Player)
    home_player_score = PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    away_player_score = PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    ...

But that seems equally bad, as I would have to do two logic sets for one player (to find his scores when he’s home_player and his scores when he’s away_player).

The final option is to do two inserts per match, both with full stats, and keep redundant data in the table.

There seems like a better way, and therefore I poll SO.

Answer 1

Id go with the first model and use select_related() to avoid the extra db calls.