One-to-one: Use a foreign key to the referenced table:
student: student_id, first_name, last_name, address_id
address: address_id, address, city, zipcode, student_id # you can have a
# "link back" if you need
You must also put a unique constraint on the foreign key column (addess.student_id) to prevent multiple rows in the child table (address) from relating to the same row in the referenced table (student).
One-to-many: Use a foreign key on the many side of the relationship linking back to the “one” side:
teachers: teacher_id, first_name, last_name # the "one" side classes: class_id, class_name, teacher_id # the "many" side
Many-to-many: Use a junction table (example):
student: student_id, first_name, last_name classes: class_id, name, teacher_id student_classes: class_id, student_id # the junction table
Example queries:
-- Getting all students for a class:
SELECT s.student_id, last_name
FROM student_classes sc
INNER JOIN students s ON s.student_id = sc.student_id
WHERE sc.class_id = X
-- Getting all classes for a student:
SELECT c.class_id, name
FROM student_classes sc
INNER JOIN classes c ON c.class_id = sc.class_id
WHERE sc.student_id = Y