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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-21T03:12:29+00:00

I’m building an application that will have two different types of users, lets call

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I’m building an application that will have two different types of users, lets call one User_type_a and the other User_type_b. I’m wondering if I should create 1 table in my database for both types of users and have a property distinguishing what type of user each record is, or if I should create two separate tables for each type of user.

Considerations:
1. 99% of all users will be User_type_a
2. User_type_b will require properties in addition to User_type_a (such as credit card #’s, etc)

Which design approach is optimal? Or does it not really matter.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The best way to do this would be to store all users in the same table, and have a foreign key relating to a second table, which contains the extra information.

    **USER TABLE**
NAME     AGE       TYPE     FK
Grant    25        Adult    1
Susan    4         Child    null
John     65        Adult    2

**EXTRA TABLE**
FK    CREDITCARD    OTHER
1     234234...     blah
2     2334...       blah

    This would be more efficient with space.

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