Databases Illuminated, 4th Edition

6.6 Properties of Relational Decompositions

Although normalization can be carried out using the heuristic approach based on candidate keys as demonstrated in the previous sections, a more formal approach to relational database design is based strictly on FDs and other types of constraints. This approach uses formal normalization algorithms to create relation schemas. To begin, all the attributes in the database are placed in a single large relation called the universal relation. Using FDs and other constraints, the universal relation is decomposed into smaller relational schemas until the process reaches a point where no further decomposition is preferred. We would like the results of the decomposition process to have some important qualities, ...