Understanding wp_posts table.

I have been developing WP plugins for a few months on and off. I am interested in writing a new plugin, but I would like to do it without adding new database tables. I decided to start trying to understand all the database tables. Noticing that uploads, posts and the lot are all stored in the “posts” table.

I’d rather not start putting stuff in this table without understanding everything else that gets put in there, and was hoping there was some documentation on how these tables should be used, or if it’s recommended not to use them.