Feb 11, 2010

Normal Forms in SQL Server

First Normal Form (1NF)

First normal form (1NF) sets the very basic rules for an organized database:
• Eliminate duplicative columns from the same table.
• Create separate tables for each group of related data and identify each row with a unique column or set of columns (the primary key).

Second Normal Form (2NF)

Second normal form (2NF) further addresses the concept of removing duplicative data:
• Meet all the requirements of the first normal form.
• Remove subsets of data that apply to multiple rows of a table and place them in separate tables.
• Create relationships between these new tables and their predecessors through use of foreign keys.

Third Normal Form (3NF)

Third normal form (3NF) goes one large step further:
• Meet all the requirements of the second normal form.
• Remove columns that are not dependent upon the primary key.

Fourth Normal Form (4NF)

Finally, fourth normal form (4NF) has one additional requirement:
• Meet all the requirements of the third normal form.
• A relation is in 4NF if it has no multi-valued dependencies.

1 comment:

  1. Clustered index vs Non clustered index

    - A table can have only one clustered index, 249 non clustered indexes
    - "primary key" is the ideal column for a clustered index."Unique Key" is the ideal column for a nonclustered index
    - Dictionary is example of clustered index, Text book is an example of non clustered
    - The clustered index is SORTED, and the nonclustered index is UNSORTED
    - Clustered indexes are good for range searches. Non-clustered indexes are good for random searches.

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