A Beginner’s Guide to Database Normalization: Understanding the Importance of Structuring Data for Optimal Performance and Integrity

Normalization

The gradual shift that makes a situation, idea, or behavior come to be more widely accepted or seen as “normal.” This term is sometimes used to describe how giving voice to prejudiced thoughts, which is generally regarded as unacceptable or outside the social norms of our polite, modern society, becomes more common and more accepted when authority figures such as business and political leaders do it. In the context of the article, though, the phrase “normalization of whiteness” refers to the way being white shifted from being a neutral fact to being the default, or “normal” race. That positioning relegating all non-white races to the category of “other,” which eventually became seen as “abnormal,” out of place, or less than. Over time, this creates the perception that there is something superior about white people. This phrase is used as a way to bring attention to one of the subtle processes that reinforces white privilege.

Normalization is the process of organizing data in a database so that it can be consistent and easily maintained. It involves breaking up a database into multiple tables to minimize data redundancy and improve data integrity. Normalization ensures that each table has a single purpose, with all data related to that single purpose stored in one table.

There are several levels of normalization, known as normal forms. The most commonly used normal forms are:

1. First normal form (1NF): Ensures that each column in a table is atomic, with no repeating groups or arrays.

2. Second normal form (2NF): Ensures that each non-key column in a table is dependent on the entire primary key, not just part of it.

3. Third normal form (3NF): Ensures that each non-key column in a table is dependent only on the primary key, and not on other non-key columns.

Normalization helps to improve database performance and reduces the likelihood of data inconsistencies. It also makes it easier to update, insert, or delete data in a database without affecting other tables. However, normalization can also make queries more complex, so it is important to find a balance between normalization and query complexity.

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