Understanding Normalization in Databases
Understanding Normalization in Databases Normalization is a crucial process in database design, aimed at organizing data to minimize duplication and improve data consistency. It involves dividing a large database into smaller, related tables for greater accuracy and efficiency. Why Normalize? Reduce Data Redundancy: Prevents the same data from being stored unnecessarily in multiple places. Improve Data Consistency: Ensures every piece of data is always correct and identical, no matter how or where it’s accessed in the database. Avoid Data Anomalies: Keeps your database free from issues that can occur when inserting, updating, or deleting data. What Are Data Anomalies? Data anomalies are problems that arise in poorly designed or unnormalized databases: Insert Anomaly: Trouble adding new data because required information is missing. Deletion Anomaly: Removing one piece of data inadvertently deletes valuable related data. Update Anomaly: Changes to data require re...