One Pager Cheat Sheet

• Normalization is a multi-step process of structuring a database's columns and tables to conform to Edgar F. Codd's First Normal Form, thereby ensuring the integrity of the data and avoiding update, insert, and deletional abnormalities.
• By dividing a large table into smaller ones, normalization helps to achieve First Normal Form (1NF) and eliminates data redundancy and anomalies, as well as improving data integrity for smoother data entry and reducing inconsistency.
• First Normal Form is a standard used to ensure that each attribute in a relation is a single-valued attribute.
• The Second Normal Form requires that the data is already in First Normal Form and that there is no partial dependency between the non-key attribute and the candidate key.
• The Third Normal Form requires that every non-prime attribute in a table must depend solely on the table's primary key and have no transitive functional dependence upon other non-prime attributes.
• To satisfy the Boyce Codd Normal Form, the table must first fulfill the third normal form and its super key must be the only determinant of the right hand side attributes, thus necessitating its split into more than one table if the existing structure does not adhere to its principles.
• To be truly in BCNF, a form must satisfy the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Normal Form standards, and have every Right-Hand Side (RHS) attribute of the functional dependencies dependent on the super key.