Database Normalization: The Benefits

Normalization:

• serves as the basis for Physical Database Design, ensuring that customer requirements are properly satisfied and that new requirements are easier to accommodate,
• makes the design of a modular system easier,
• makes the database easier to maintain,
• ensures structural stability of data,
• prevents various updating anomalies which can occur in non-normalized record structures,
• enables record processing by a set of simple operators.

While performance considerations often prohibit the direct implementation of normalized records, the process of normalization  results in a model of the "ideal" data structure and relationships.  Consequently, it is a valuable procedure whether or not a relational database system is used.