Skip to main content

Normalization

What is Normalization?

Normalization, more commonly referred to as database normalization, is the process of organizing the attributes and tables of a relational database to minimize redundancy. The first step in creating and using a relational database (like MySQL) is to establish the database's structure. Database modeling is crucial for successful long-term management of information. You'll carefully eliminate redundancies and other problems that would undermine the integrity of your database.

Normalization involves decomposing a table into less redundant (and smaller) tables but without losing information; defining foreign keys in the old table referencing the primary keys of the new ones. The objective is to isolate data so that additions, deletions, and modifications of an attribute can be made in just one table and then propagated through the rest of the database using the defined foreign keys.

A typical example of normalization is that an entity's unique ID is stored everywhere in the system but its name is held in only one table. The name can be updated more easily in one row of one table.

Normalized tables, and the relationship between one normalized table and another, mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships.

Normalized tables are suitable for general-purpose querying. This means any queries against these tables, including future queries whose details cannot be anticipated, are supported. In contrast, tables that are not normalized lend themselves to some types of queries, but not others.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Creating your own ArrayList in Java

Wanted to show that certain data structures in Java can be created by you. In this example, we'll go ahead and create an ArrayList data structure that has some of the methods that the built in ArrayList class has. We'll create 2 constructors: The default constructor that creates an ArrayList with a default size of 10. Constructor that allows an initial size to be passed to the array. We'll also create a number of methods: void add(Object x);  A method that allows you to place an Object at the end of the ArrayList. void add(int index, Object x);  A method that allows you to place a value at a given location. Object get(int index):  Allows you to retrieve a value of the arrayList array from a given location. int size();  Allows you to get the number of elements currently in the Arraylist. boolean isEmpty();  Tests to see if the Arraylist is empty. boolean isIn(Object x);  A method that sees if a particular object exist in the arrayList. int ...

Laravel 6.x with React and react-router

This will get you started on getting your first React/Laravel application deployed to your server. We'll cover everything from installation to deployment. Start by reading the installation instructions on  https://laravel.com/docs/6.x#installing-laravel . We'll cover those details below. Setting Up Laravel Check that you have the latest version of PHP installed on your computer.  It must be >= 7.2.0. Open terminal to get the Laravel installation tool. Type in composer global require laravel/installer Type in laravel to verify installation. Navigate to a directory on your computer where you want to install your project on your terminal. Run the following command: laravel new project_name (replace project_name with your project name). Once complete, cd into your new project. Type the following command: php artisan serve. You'll get a message like the following if it's running successfully: Laravel development server started: http://127.0.0.1:8000 ...

Programming Language Concepts Test Questions/Answers

One of the easiest methods that I use to learn new topics is by creating notes on the subject and then by turning those notes into questions and answers. Remembering answers to questions just seems more natural. I was able to memorize 323 questions and answers in a matter of a couple of days. I wanted to start doing this for some topics that I find pretty interesting. To begin, here are some questions and answers to Programming Language Concepts (PLC). I'm reading your mind right now and the answer is yes, there will be more. 1. Name 3 reasons for studying PLC. - Better understanding of current programming languages - Advancement of computing - Increased capability to express ideas - Increased capability to learn new programming language. - Better understanding of which programming language to choose.  2. Name the 5 programming domains and languages best suited for each. - Scientific (Fortran, ALGOL 60) - Business (COBOL) - AI (Lisp, Scheme, Prolog) - Web (PHP, ...