Should i use the wordpress Options table or to create database table..?

Question

I have an application built in asp.net but i'd like to port it over to wordpress as a plugin. Is it practical to develop the php version of this app using the Wordpress options table or should i rather create new database tables in the existing wordpress database?

Lastly this next question may be answered by answering the first question hopefully and that is: When should I use wordpress option tables over creating the database tables for the intended plugin?

Thanks way in advance..

Answer 1

Generally speaking, it's better to use the WordPress options table unless you have an enormous amount of data.

If you also use the WordPress Options API you can easily store your options grouped into 1 or several serialized arrays. WordPress handles the serialization of the data and by default options are set to autoload and cached so you save on any additional queries.

You also have the benefit of using built in functions like get_option(), update_option(), etc...

Answer 2

As an efficiency issue it's faster to use separate database tables and to join them with the wordpress tables.

That will mean writing alot of code using the wordpress pluggin api if you want to be rigurous.

If it's not that complicated / data-intensive you could use the options and save yourself some trouble.