JustKiraJ
Convex Community4w ago
1 reply
JustKira

Database Design Question: Data Duplication vs. Joins for User Types

I'm designing a database with a Users table and multiple user types (Admin, Parent, Child, Coach, etc.), each with their own specific fields.
My current approach:
Instead of using a single Users table with joins to type-specific tables, I'm considering duplicating commonly-used fields (email, first_name, last_name) directly into each type-specific table (e.g., Admins, Parents, Coaches).
My reasoning:

Avoids frequent joins when querying
Simplifies pagination and common queries
I've seen recommendations for denormalization in similar cases

My concern:
I'd need to keep the duplicated data in sync across tables.
Is this a reasonable approach, or am I overcomplicating things? What patterns do you use for handling multiple user types with shared + unique fields?
What is convex recommended way in other Word!!
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