Database Tables and Normalization

 Normalization is a process for assigning

attributes to entities. It reduces data
redundancies.
 Normalization works through a series of stages
called normal forms:
 First Normal Form (1NF)
 Second Normal Form (2NF)
 Third Normal Form (3NF) etc…………..
 The highest level of normalization is not always
desirable.
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 Guidelines for Designing Relations
 Guideline 1: Design relations so that the the meaning of
the data is clear. Do not combine attributes from different
entities and relationships into a single relation.
 Guideline 2: Design relations so that no insertion, deletion
or modification PROBLEMS are likely to occur.
 Guideline 3: As far as possible, avoid including attributes
in a relation that have null values in a majority of the tuples.
 Guideline 4: Design relations that can be JOINed with
each other using equality conditions on attributes that are
either primary keys or foreign keys.

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 Keys
 The role of the key is based on a concept known as
determination, which is used in the definition of functional
dependence.
 An attribute B is functionally dependent on an attribute
A if the value of A determines the value of B.
 An attribute that is part of a primary or candidate key is
known as a key ( or prime) attribute. Else, it is a non-
key (or non-prime) attribute.
If an attribute B is functionally dependent on a composite
key A but not on any subset of A, then B is fully
functionally dependent on A; otherwise B is partially
dependent on A.
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 Two Other Dependencies
 Partial Dependency
A functional dependency ‘A determines B’ is a partial
dependency if the dependency holds even after removing
some attribute from A.

 Transitive Dependency
A transitive dependency occurs when one non-prime attribute
depends on another non-prime attribute.

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Database Tables and Normalization

1NF Definition
The term First Normal Form (1NF) describes the
tabular format in which:
 All the prime attributes are defined and have
non-null values.
 All table entries are atomic, i.e., no cell of the
table contains a group of items.
 All attributes are dependent on the primary key.

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 Customer

Customer ID First Name Surname Tel. No. 1 Tel. No. 2 Tel. No. 3
123 Robert Ingram 2025456
124 Jane Wright 555-403-1 659555-776-

Customer
Customer ID First Name Surname
1 Robert Ingram
2 Jane Wright
Customer Telephone Number
Customer ID Telephone Number
1 2025456
2 555-403-1
124 659555-776-
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Database Tables and Normalization
2NF Definition
A table is in Second Normal Form (2NF) if:
 It is in 1NF, and
 It includes no partial dependencies, i.e., no
attribute is dependent on only a part of a
composite candidate key.
Note that it is possible for a table in 2NF to
exhibit transitive dependency, i.e., a non-prime
attribute can be functionally dependent on some
other non-prime attribute.
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Consider a table describing employees' skills:

Employee Skill Current Work Location

Jones Typing 114 Main Street

Jones Shorthand 114 Main Street

Jones Whittling 114 Main Street

Roberts Light Cleaning 73 Industrial Way

The table's only candidate key is {Employee, Skill}.The remaining

attribute, Current Work Location, is dependent on only part of the
candidate key, namely Employee. Therefore the table is not in 2NF.
Note the redundancy in the way Current Work Locations are
represented: we are told three times that Jones works at 114 Main
Street. This redundancy makes the table prone to update problems.

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A 2NF alternative to this design would represent the same information
in two tables:
Employees
Employee Location
Current Work
Jones 114 Main Street
Roberts 73 Industrial Way

Employees' Skills
Employee Skill
Jones Typing
Jones Shorthand
Jones Whittling
Roberts Light Cleaning

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Database Tables and Normalization

3NF Definition
A table is in Third Normal Form (3NF) if:
It is in 2NF, and

It contains no transitive dependencies.

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 To normalize data to achieve third normal
form-

• Identify and remove any attribute which is

actually dependent on a non-key attribute
in the same relation .

• Create a new relation for this attribute

identified by the relevant key.

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 Denormalization
 Normalization is only one of many database design
goals.
 Normalized (decomposed) tables require additional
processing.
 Normalizationpurity is often difficult to sustain in
the modern database environment. The conflict
between design efficiency, information require-
ments, and processing speed are often resolved
through compromises that include denormalization.
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 Merging Relations (View Integration)
This is required when, on large projects, the
work of several sub-teams comes together
during logical design.

Problems that may arise:

 Synonyms: Different names, same
meaning.
 Homonyms: Same name, different
meanings.
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 Synonyms
STUDENT1 (Student_ID, Name)
STUDENT2 (SSN, Name, Address)

If Student_ID is same as SSN, the two relations can be merged to

STUDENT (SSN, Name, Address)

 Homonyms
STUDENT1 (Student_ID, Name, Address)
STUDENT2 (Student_ID, Name, Phone, Address)

If one address refers to the campus address and the other to the home
address, the relations can be merged to

STUDENT (Student_ID, Name, Phone, Campus_addr, Home_addr) 16