What is a table prefix?

Question

What is a table prefix, and what are their advantages and disadvantages? This is in relation to MySQL.

Answer 1

Some people advocate tbl or tbl_ (e.g. tbl_MyTable or tblMyTable) whilst others go with a suffix such as MyTable_T.

Personally I avoid the prefixes/suffixes. I may substitute in a View in place of a Table if a schema is changing over time so I don't really distinguish between the two types of object.

The most important thing is that you have your naming guidelines documented within your team and you all stick to the same set of guidelines for consistency.