The Basics of Database Normalization

Perhaps someone’s asked you, “Is that database normalized?”

or “Is that inBCNF?”

Normalization is often considered a luxury only academics have time for.

What Is Normalization?

Normalization is the process of efficiently organizing data in a database.

The fifth normal form is very rarely seen and won’t be discussed in this article.

Occasionally, it becomes necessary to stray from them to meet practical business requirements.

That said, let’s explore the normal forms.

For a database to be in 2NF, it must first fulfill all the criteria of a 1NF database.

Should I Normalize?

While database normalization is often a good idea, it’s not anabsolute requirement.

There are some cases where deliberately violating the rules of normalization is a good practice.