Database Normalization

A way to organize a database by separating large tables into smaller tables in order to avoid duplication

Each table in the database should be customized for a specific purpose to make the database more organized and easier to read or modify

Reasons for Normalization

• to minimize duplicate data
• to minimize or avoid data modification issues
• to simplify queries

Databases that are not normalized will contain duplicate data and this may lead to data collisions

Duplicated information presents two problems

• It increases storage and decreases performance.
• It becomes more difficult to maintain data changes.

There are three common forms of normalization:

• First Normal Form : The information is stored in a relational table and each column contains atomic values, and there are not repeating groups of columns.
• Second Normal Form : The table is in first normal form and all the columns depend on the table’s primary key.
• Third Normal Form : The table is in second normal form and all of its columns are not transitively dependent on the primary key.