Definition
The process of organizing database tables to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity by following normal form rules.
In Depth
Normalization eliminates duplicate data by splitting it into related tables. First Normal Form (1NF) eliminates repeating groups, Second Normal Form (2NF) removes partial dependencies, and Third Normal Form (3NF) removes transitive dependencies. Denormalization (intentionally adding redundancy) is sometimes used for query performance.
Example Usage
Normalizing glossary data by putting categories in a separate table with a foreign key relationship, instead of duplicating category names on every term.
Business Context
Proper normalization prevents data anomalies (updating a category name in one place updates it everywhere) and reduces storage costs.
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