Normalization
o Normalization is the process of organizing the data in the database.
o Normalization is used to minimize the redundancy from a relation or
set of relations. It is also used to eliminate the undesirable
characteristics like Insertion, Update and Deletion Anomalies.
o Normalization divides the larger table into the smaller table and
links them using relationship.
o The normal form is used to reduce redundancy from the database table.
Purpose of Normalization
Normalization is the process of structuring and handling the relationship
between data to minimize redundancy in the relational table and avoid
the unnecessary anomalies properties from the database like insertion,
update and delete. It helps to divide large database tables into smaller
tables and make a relationship between them. It can remove the
redundant data and ease to add, manipulate or delete table fields.
A normalization defines rules for the relational table as to whether it
satisfies the normal form. A normal form is a process that evaluates
each relation against defined criteria and removes the multivalued, joins,
functional and trivial dependency from a relation. If any data is updated,
deleted or inserted, it does not cause any problem for database tables and
help to improve the relational table' integrity and efficiency.
Objective of Normalization
1. It is used to remove the duplicate data and database anomalies from the
relational table.
2. Normalization helps to reduce redundancy and complexity by examining
new data types used in the table.
3. It is helpful to divide the large database table into smaller tables and link
them using relationship.
4. It avoids duplicate data or no repeating groups into a table.
5. It reduces the chances for anomalies to occur in a database.
Types of Anomalies
Following are the types of anomalies that make the table inconsistency, loss
of integrity, and redundant data.
1. Data redundancy occurs in a relational database when two or more
rows or columns have the same value or repetitive value leading to
unnecessary utilization of the memory.
Student Table:
StudRegistration CourseID StudName Address Course
205 6204 James Los Angeles Economics
205 6247 James Los Angeles Economics
224 6247 Trent Bolt New York Mathematics
230 6204 Ritchie Rich Egypt Computer
230 6208 Ritchie Rich Egypt Accounts
There are two students in the above table, 'James' and 'Ritchie Rich', whose
records are repetitive when we enter a new CourseID. Hence it repeats
the studRegistration, StudName and address attributes.
2. Insert Anomaly: An insert anomaly occurs in the relational database
when some attributes or data items are to be inserted into the database
without existence of other attributes. For example, In the Student table, if
we want to insert a new courseID, we need to wait until the student
enrolled in a course. In this way, it is difficult to insert new record in the
table. Hence, it is called insertion anomalies.
3. Update Anomalies: The anomaly occurs when duplicate data is
updated only in one place and not in all instances. Hence, it makes our
data or table inconsistent state. For example, suppose there is a student
'James' who belongs to Student table. If we want to update the course in
the Student, we need to update the same in the course table; otherwise,
the data can be inconsistent. And it reflects the changes in a table with
updated values where some of them will not.
[Link] Anomalies: An anomaly occurs in a database table when some
records are lost or deleted from the database table due to the deletion of
other records. For example, if we want to remove Trent Bolt from the
Student table, it also removes his address, course and other details from
the Student table. Therefore, we can say that deleting some attributes can
remove other attributes of the database table.
So, we need to avoid these types of anomalies from the tables and maintain
the integrity, accuracy of the database table. Therefore, we use the
normalization concept in the database management system.
Types of Normal Forms
There are the four types of normal forms:
Normal Description
Form
1NF A relation is in 1NF if it contains an atomic value.
2NF A relation will be in 2NF if it is in 1NF and all non-key attributes are fully
functional dependent on the primary key.
3NF A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and no transition dependency exists.
4NF A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd normal form and has no multi-
valued dependency.
5NF A relation is in 5NF if it is in 4NF and not contains any join dependency
and joining should be lossless.
First Normal Form (1NF)
o A relation will be 1NF if it contains an atomic value.
o It states that an attribute of a table cannot hold multiple values. It must
hold only single-valued attribute.
o First normal form disallows the multi-valued attribute, composite attribute,
and their combinations.
Example: Relation EMPLOYEE is not in 1NF because of multi-valued attribute
EMP_PHONE.
EMPLOYEE table:
EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE
14 John 7272826385, UP
9064738238
20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar
12 Sam 7390372389, Punjab
8589830302
The decomposition of the EMPLOYEE table into 1NF has been shown below:
EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE
14 John 7272826385 UP
14 John 9064738238 UP
20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar
12 Sam 7390372389 Punjab
12 Sam 8589830302 Punjab
Second Normal Form (2NF)
o In the 2NF, relational must be in 1NF.
o In the second normal form, all non-key attributes are fully functional
dependent on the primary key
Example: Let's assume, a school can store the data of teachers and the
subjects they teach. In a school, a teacher can teach more than one
subject.
TEACHER table
TEACHER_ID SUBJECT TEACHER_AGE
25 Chemistry 30
25 Biology 30
47 English 35
83 Math 38
83 Computer 38
In the given table, non-prime attribute TEACHER_AGE is dependent on
TEACHER_ID which is a proper subset of a candidate key. That's why it
violates the rule for 2NF.
To convert the given table into 2NF, we decompose it into two tables:
TEACHER_DETAIL table:
TEACHER_ID TEACHER_AGE
25 30
47 35
83 38
TEACHER_SUBJECT table:
TEACHER_ID SUBJECT
25 Chemistry
25 Biology
47 English
83 Math
83 Computer
Third Normal Form (3NF)
o A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and not contain any transitive partial
dependency.
o 3NF is used to reduce the data duplication. It is also used to achieve the data
integrity.
o If there is no transitive dependency for non-prime attributes, then the
relation must be in third normal form.
A relation is in third normal form if it holds atleast one of the following
conditions for every non-trivial function dependency X → Y.
1. X is a super key.
2. Y is a prime attribute, i.e., each element of Y is part of some candidate key.
Example:
EMPLOYEE_DETAIL
table:
EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY
222 Harry 201010 UP Noida
333 Stephan 02228 US Boston
444 Lan 60007 US Chicago
555 Katharine 06389 UK Norwich
666 John 462007 MP Bhopal
Super key in the table above:
1. {EMP_ID}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME, EMP_ZIP}. so on
Candidate key: {EMP_ID}
Non-prime attributes: In the given table, all attributes except
EMP_ID are non-prime.
Here, EMP_STATE & EMP_CITY dependent on EMP_ZIP and EMP_ZIP
dependent on EMP_ID. The non-prime attributes (EMP_STATE,
EMP_CITY) transitively dependent on super key(EMP_ID). It violates
the rule of third normal form.
That's why we need to move the EMP_CITY and EMP_STATE to the new
<EMPLOYEE_ZIP> table, with EMP_ZIP as a Primary key.
EMPLOYEE table:
EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP
222 Harry 201010
333 Stephan 02228
444 Lan 60007
555 Katharine 06389
666 John 462007
EMPLOYEE_ZIP table:
EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY
201010 UP Noida
02228 US Boston
60007 US Chicago
06389 UK Norwich
462007 MP Bhopal
Advanced Normalization
Boyce Codd normal form (BCNF)
o BCNF is the advance version of 3NF. It is stricter than 3NF.
o A table is in BCNF if every functional dependency X → Y, X is the super key of the
table.
o For BCNF, the table should be in 3NF, and for every FD, LHS is super key.
Example: Let's assume there is a company where employees work in
more than one department.
EMPLOYEE table:
EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO
264 India Designing D394 283
264 India Testing D394 300
364 UK Stores D283 232
364 UK Developing D283 549
In the above table Functional dependencies are as follows:
1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}
Candidate key: {EMP-ID, EMP-DEPT}
The table is not in BCNF because neither EMP_DEPT nor EMP_ID alone are keys.
To convert the given table into BCNF, we decompose it into three tables:
EMP_COUNTRY table:
EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY
264 India
264 India
EMP_DEPT table:
EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO
Designing D394 283
Testing D394 300
Stores D283 232
Developing D283 549
EMP_DEPT_MAPPING table:
EMP_ID EMP_DEPT
D394 283
D394 300
D283 232
D283 549
Functional dependencies:
1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}
Candidate keys:
For the first table: EMP_ID
For the second table: EMP_DEPT
For the third table: {EMP_ID, EMP_DEPT}
Now, this is in BCNF because left side part of both the functional
dependencies is a key.
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