Database Design

Good database design is crucial for building efficient and maintainable applications. Let’s explore the key principles.

Normalization

Normalization is the process of organizing data to reduce redundancy:

First Normal Form (1NF)

• Each column contains atomic values
• Each row is unique

Second Normal Form (2NF)

• Meets 1NF requirements
• All non-key columns depend on the entire primary key

Third Normal Form (3NF)

• Meets 2NF requirements
• No transitive dependencies

Relationships

One-to-Many

The most common relationship type. Example: One author can write many books.

Many-to-Many

Requires a junction table. Example: Books and genres.

One-to-One

Less common, used for splitting tables. Example: User and user_details.

Good design leads to better performance and easier maintenance!