http://www.ltcreations.com/database/database.html
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page 140, 200 - Creating Database.
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Normalization:
Page 201: The golden rule of database design is: "don’t store anything more than once. Instead, store it
just once, give it a unique reference number, and refer to it by that number in future". Why?
Because it’s a much safer way to ensure that the database content remains accurate. If you
need to change something, you only need to change it once, and all references to it are
automatically up to date
Designing databases in this way, ie with information referenced by a unique number, is known as normalization. It’s often harder than it looks, but is well worth the effort invested. It ensures that your database, ie your collection of related tables, is working at peak efficiency.
MySQL is known as a relational database. Hopefully you can now see why. Within the database is a collection of tables, and the information in those tables is often related.
Referential Integrity
A normalised database, where each type of data item is held in a separate table with a unique id, makes a great deal of sense. It's by far the most efficient way to store and manage information, whether you're designing a booking system for a 10-room hotel or an inventory manager for a web site the size of Amazon. However, it's important to ensure that you don't end up with tables that refer to non-existing information. In database terminology, this means making sure that you maintain the referential integrity
http://www.the-web-book.com/browse/index.html
page 140, 200 - Creating Database.
---------------------------------------------------
Normalization:
Page 201: The golden rule of database design is: "don’t store anything more than once. Instead, store it
just once, give it a unique reference number, and refer to it by that number in future". Why?
Because it’s a much safer way to ensure that the database content remains accurate. If you
need to change something, you only need to change it once, and all references to it are
automatically up to date
Designing databases in this way, ie with information referenced by a unique number, is known as normalization. It’s often harder than it looks, but is well worth the effort invested. It ensures that your database, ie your collection of related tables, is working at peak efficiency.
MySQL is known as a relational database. Hopefully you can now see why. Within the database is a collection of tables, and the information in those tables is often related.
Referential Integrity
A normalised database, where each type of data item is held in a separate table with a unique id, makes a great deal of sense. It's by far the most efficient way to store and manage information, whether you're designing a booking system for a 10-room hotel or an inventory manager for a web site the size of Amazon. However, it's important to ensure that you don't end up with tables that refer to non-existing information. In database terminology, this means making sure that you maintain the referential integrity
.
