Database Normalisation Questions Medium
Database normalization is the process of organizing data in a database to eliminate redundancy and improve data integrity. It involves breaking down a database into multiple tables and establishing relationships between them through keys. The main goal of normalization is to minimize data duplication and ensure that each piece of information is stored in only one place.
Normalization is important for several reasons. Firstly, it helps to eliminate data anomalies such as update, insert, and delete anomalies, which can occur when data is duplicated across multiple tables. By reducing redundancy, normalization improves data consistency and accuracy.
Secondly, normalization enhances data integrity by enforcing referential integrity constraints. These constraints ensure that relationships between tables are maintained and that data dependencies are properly defined. This helps to prevent inconsistencies and errors in the database.
Thirdly, normalization improves database performance and efficiency. By breaking down data into smaller, more manageable tables, queries and operations can be executed more efficiently. This leads to faster data retrieval and processing times.
Additionally, normalization simplifies database design and maintenance. It provides a structured approach to organizing data, making it easier to understand and modify the database structure as requirements change. It also reduces the likelihood of data anomalies and makes it easier to enforce data constraints and security measures.
In summary, database normalization is important because it eliminates redundancy, improves data integrity, enhances performance, and simplifies database design and maintenance. It ensures that data is stored efficiently and accurately, leading to a more reliable and effective database system.