Databases Intermediate

What is Normalization?

The process of organizing database tables to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity.

Normalization structures a database into normal forms (1NF through 5NF, typically up to 3NF). First Normal Form eliminates repeating groups. Second Normal Form removes partial dependencies. Third Normal Form removes transitive dependencies.

Benefits include reduced data duplication, consistent updates, and smaller tables. Trade-offs include more JOINs and potentially slower reads. Denormalization intentionally adds redundancy for read performance.

Related Terms

Stored Procedure

A precompiled collection of SQL statements stored in the database that can be executed as a single unit.

A database object that automatically executes a specified function when certain events (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) occur on a table.

A distributed search and analytics engine built on Apache Lucene, optimized for full-text search and log analysis.

PostgreSQL's binary JSON data type that stores JSON documents with indexing, querying, and manipulation capabilities.

Structured Query Language — the standard language for managing and querying data in relational databases.

Connection Pool

A cache of database connections that can be reused, avoiding the overhead of creating new connections for each request.

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