Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Fourth Edition

Summary

As you have learned, a preliminary decision about normalization has to be made during the design phase of a database. Today, we covered the three most common normal forms, concepts behind the normalization process, and the integrity of data. The normalization process involves many steps, most optional, that are vital to the functionality and performance of your database. Regardless of how deep you decide to normalize, there will most always be a trade-off—either between simple maintenance and questionable performance, or complicated maintenance and better performance. In the end, the individual or team of individuals designing the database must decide, and those individuals will be responsible.