[OT] MySQL for Web Apps

[Bill Stephenson]

If you're busy please forgive me and ignore this, if you have time to 
offer an opinion I'd really like to hear from this list on this 
subject;

If I am building a web app from the ground up, what's the best way to 
deal with storing/retrieving data? For arguments sake let's say the app 
will have 2500 users to begin with that each hit the server an average 
of 50 times a week. Each request delivers 40k of data. Users can search 
through their saved records where each record contains 5-50k of data. 
Users can have up to 2000 records. In 5 years the app will have, maybe, 
25,000 users. In 10 years, say, 100,000 users. If it ever has more 
users than that, I'll write a help wanted message.

I'd like to store using XML in a separate text file for each record 
created because it's easy and gives me flexibility. I can add data 
fields without tweaking tables in a MySQL database. I can add users 
easily and keep their data in a separate directory that is easy to 
locate. I'm told that storing/retrieving data in text files is slow and 
so is parsing that data. I've never used XML::Parser but I thought I'd 
give it a spin.

I hear MySQL is speedy, but it seems to me that it adds complexity to 
such a degree that it may not be an even trade off. I could store data 
in  an XML format in a single field in a MySQL database, but I'd still 
have to parse it.

As computers keep getting faster, and memory and storage cheaper, isn't 
it beneficial to program in the most simple, human readable, least 
learning required, method?

In short, I'm lazy. I'd rather code this all in perl. Do I really need 
to learn about and use MySQL or will computers get fast enough that it 
won't matter anyway.

Kindest Regards,

Bill Stephenson