Database normalization through examples
Normalization was first proposed by Edgar F. Codd, the inventor of the relational model for database management. Codd introduced normalization in 1NF form and later extended it to 2NF and 3NF. Later, Codd, working with Raymond F. Boyce, developed Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) also called 3.5NF.
As database theory continues to develop, subsequent normal forms have been proposed up to 6NF, following the progression from least to most restrictive. While it is important to understand normalization in all its forms, it is also essential to recognize that typical business scenarios do not require going past 3NF.
To understand how normal forms organize a database and prevent data anomalies, we will run through an exercise of taking a wholly denormalized dataset and running it through the normalization rules required to satisfy each form. The exercises that follow use examples of data from the music industry. But, unlike the wide world of music...
