338 CHAPTER 15 Denormalization
the data is not seriously compromised. This chapter explains these tradeoffs with some
simple examples.
15.1 Basics of Normalization
Database designers sometimes use processing requirements to refine the database
schema definition during the physical design phase or as a method for tuning the data-
base if there are real performance bottlenecks. Schema refinement, or denormalization,
is often used in online transaction processing (OLTP) if meaningful efficiency gains can
be made without loss of data integrity, and if it is relatively easy to implement. Denor-
malization is also very common in online analytical processing (OLAP) through the use
of the star schema.
Relational database tables sometimes suffer from some rather ...