Normalization Explained: How to Structure Your Data for Maximum Clarity

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Structuring a relational database is (typically) all about following the rules of normalization, called 'normal forms'. Sounds theoretical, but it's pretty straightforward.

Normalizing data is all about turning one or more "flat files" (like CSVs, tab-delimited data, XML or JSON) into a set of related tables. These relationships are defined by keys in each table and follow patterns called "normal forms".

We'll look at the first three normal forms in this video from a conceptual point of view and then we'll get into the practice in the next video.