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Understanding Normalization

Normalization is simply a set of rules that will ultimately make your life easier when you're acting as a database administrator. It's the art of organizing your database in such a way that your tables are related where appropriate and flexible for future growth.

The sets of rules used in normalization are called normal forms. If your database design follows the first set of rules, it's considered in the first normal form. If the first three sets of rules of normalization are followed, your database is said to be in the third normal form.

Throughout this chapter, you'll learn about each rule in the first, second, and third normal forms and, we hope, will follow them as you create your own applications. You'll be using ...