Normalization: BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)

Is normalization up to BCNF necessary?

Table of Contents

· Introduction
· BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)
· Summary
· Bibliography

Introduction

The purpose of normalization is to group attributes into relations to minimize data redundancy. Codd (1970, 1971) proposed the concept of normalization by introducing 1NF, followed by 2NF and 3NF. Together with Raymond F. Boyce, Codd (1974) defined BCNF. Fagin (1977) introduced 4NF followed by 5NF in 1979. Date, Darwen, and Lorentzos (2002) defined 6NF.

A relation that fulfills 3NF, in most cases, usually satisfies BCNF. Therefore, practitioners only carry out the normalization process in practice up to 3NF.

BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)

A relation is in BCNF if and only if every determinant is a candidate key. It means that each determinant in a BCNF relation has a unique value.

Functional Dependency
Describes the relationship between attributes in a relation. For example, if A and B are attributes of relation R, B is functionally dependent on A (denoted A → B), if each value of A is associated with exactly one value of B. A and B may each consist of one or more attributes. (Connolly & Begg, 2015:457)

Determinant
Refers to the attribute, or group of…