NORMALIZATION

Normalization Functional Dependencies

 We discuss four normal forms: first, second,  We say an attribute, B, has a functional
third, and Boyce-Codd normal forms dependency on another attribute, A, if for any
1NF, 2NF, 3NF, and BCNF two records, which have the same value for A,
 Normalization is a process that “improves” a then the values for B in these two records must
database design by generating relations that are be the same. We illustrate this as: A  B.
of higher normal forms. Example: Suppose we keep track of employee email
 The objective of normalization: addresses, and we only track one email address for each
to create relations where every dependency is employee. Suppose each employee is identified by their
on the key, the whole key, and nothing but the unique employee number. We say there is a functional
key”. dependency of email address on employee number:
There is a sequence to normal forms: employee number  email address
 1NF is considered the weakest,
 2NF is stronger than 1NF,
 3NF is stronger than 2NF, and
 BCNF is considered the strongest
Also,
any relation that is in BCNF, is in 3NF;
any relation in 3NF is in 2NF; and If EmpNum is the PK then the FDs:
any relation in 2NF is in 1NF. EmpNum  EmpEmail
EmpNum  EmpFname
EmpNum  EmpLname

 We consider a relation in BCNF to be fully

normalized.
 The benefit of higher normal forms is that
update semantics for the affected data are
simplified. Determinant
 This means that applications required to Functional Dependency
maintain the database are simpler. EmpNum  EmpEmail
 A design that has a lower normal form than Attribute on the LHS (Left Hand Side) is known as the
another design has more redundancy. determinant
Uncontrolled redundancy can lead to data • EmpNum is a determinant of EmpEmail
integrity problems.
 First we introduce the concept of functional Transitive dependency
dependency Transitive dependency
Consider attributes A, B, and C, and where
A  B and B  C.
Functional dependencies are transitive, which means
that we also have the functional dependency A  C
We say that C is transitively dependent on A through B.

First Normal Form

 We say a relation is in 1NF if all values stored in
the relation are single-valued and atomic.
1NF places restrictions on the structure of relations.
Values must be simple.
Boyce-Codd Normal Form • A relation is in 3NF if the relation is in 1NF and
 BCNF is defined very simply: all determinants of non-key attributes are
a relation is in BCNF if it is in 1NF and if every candidate keys
determinant is a candidate key. That is, for any functional dependency: X  Y,
 If our database will be used for OLTP (on line where Y is a non-key attribute (or a set of non-key
transaction processing), then BCNF is our attributes), X is a candidate key.
target. Usually, we meet this objective. • This definition of 3NF differs from BCNF only in
However, we might denormalize (3NF, 2NF, or the specification of non-key attributes - 3NF is
1NF) for performance reasons. weaker than BCNF. (BCNF requires all
determinants to be candidate keys.)
Second Normal Form • A relation in 3NF will not have any transitive
A relation is in 2NF if it is in 1NF, and every non-key dependencies
attribute is fully dependent on each candidate key. of non-key attribute on a candidate key through
(That is, we don’t have any partial functional another non-key attribute.
dependency.)
• 2NF (and 3NF) both involve the concepts of key
and non-key attributes.
• A key attribute is any attribute that is part of a
key; any attribute that is not a key attribute,
is a non-key attribute.
• Relations that are not in BCNF have data
redundancies
• A relation in 2NF will not have any partial
dependencies

Third Normal Form