Skip to Main Content
Using SQLite
book

Using SQLite

by Jay A. Kreibich
August 2010
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
526 pages
23h 39m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Using SQLite

Normal Form

You won’t get too far into most database design books without reading a discussion on normalization and the Normal Forms. The Normal Forms are a series of forms, or table design specifications, that describe the best way to lay out data in a database. The higher the normal form, the more normalized the database is. Each form builds on the previous one, adding additional rules or conditions that must be met. Normalization is the process of removing data duplication, more clearly defining key relationships, and generally moving towards a more idealized database form. It is possible for different tables in the same database to be at different levels.

Most people recognize five normal forms simply referred to as the First Normal Form through the Fifth Normal Form. These are often abbreviated 1NF through 5NF. There are also a few named forms, such as the Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF). Most of these other forms are roughly equivalent to one of the numbered forms. For example, BCNF is a slight extension to the Third Normal Form. Some folks also recognize higher levels of normalization, such as a Sixth Normal Form and beyond, but these extreme levels of normalization are well beyond the practical concerns of most database designers.

Normalization

The normalization process is useful for two reasons. First, normalization specifies design criteria that can act as a guide in the design process. If you have a set of tables that are proving to be difficult to work with, that often points ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Learning SQL, 3rd Edition

Learning SQL, 3rd Edition

Alan Beaulieu
High Performance MySQL, 4th Edition

High Performance MySQL, 4th Edition

Silvia Botros, Jeremy Tinley

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781449394592Errata PageSupplemental Content