databases

7 articles · newest first

Flat illustration of a person carrying a copy of a database from an empty safe to a second safe

Backups, and losing everything: the copy you'll need once

Lesson 6 of where your data lives: what a backup actually is, what your plan does and doesn't do for you, and the Replit story that made it real.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Flat illustration of an open box containing a database cylinder, a key, a folder and a small server, with a person looking in

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What is Supabase? The backend-in-a-box, explained

Lesson 5 of where your data lives: the service behind a huge share of AI-built apps. What's inside the box, what's free, and what it asks of you.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Flat illustration of a person holding a magnifying glass over a table where only some rows light up

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What is a query? Asking the database a question

Lesson 3 of where your data lives: how your app asks for exactly the rows it wants, and what happens when the question has no "only".

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Flat illustration of a person arranging coloured blocks into neat rows and columns on a big board

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Tables, rows and columns: the shape of your data

Lesson 2 of where your data lives: how a database lays things out, why every column has a type, and the one column that connects everything.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Flat illustration of a tidy set of labelled filing drawers with a person filing a card into one

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What is a database? Where your app keeps things

Lesson 1 of where your data lives: the organised place your app puts every sign-up, order and message, and why it isn't just a spreadsheet.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

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What is a backend? Explained for vibe coders, with a drawing

Frontend, server, database, API, secrets: the parts of your app you can't see, drawn as the journey of one tap, and why every security rule has to live on the far side of it.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 6 min

Flat illustration of two people each looking through their own window at a table, each seeing only their own coloured rows

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Row Level Security explained (with a picture): the setting that matters

The one database setting behind the biggest vibe-coded app exposures, shown as a table: who sees what with RLS off, who sees what with it on, and the policy your AI tool should be writing.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 7 min