MySQL: Understanding mapping tables
When building a category navigation system for a business directory with a many to many relationship, I understand that it is good practise to create a mapping table. Category Table ( CategoryId, CategoryName ) Business Table ( BusinessId, BusinessName ) Category Mapping Table ( BusinessId, CategoryId ) When I join the Category table and Business table to create the mapping table would this then give me a table which contains every possible business and category relationship? I have 800 categories and 1000 business listings. Would that then give me a table containing 800,000 possible