Re: The MySQL/PHP pair
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 03:47:53 -0500
Message-ID: <9POdnY0fqMPdug7cRVn-jw_at_comcast.com>
"Bill H" <wphaskettatTHISISMUNGEDadvantosdotnet> wrote in message news:rM6dnYupZa4bmw7cRVn-3g_at_adelphia.com...
> I really don't want to quibble about this 1NF stuff. You've noted the
> problems. They exist. We, as developers, deal with them every day. I'll
> bet you do too. Normalization is a rule that needs to be broken for a
> variety of reasons. So many reasons, in fact, that one questions the
rule.
Actually, it's better to treat the normalization forms as an analytical tool than as a design "rule".
In other words, for any given design, you can work out what normal form it adheres to, and what normal form it does not. For a normal form that is not adhered to, you get an indicator of the problems you are going to have (usually update problems). If your response is, "OK, I'll live with those problems" that's one thing.
The person who ought to learn normalization is the one who constantly ends up with design problems, and keeps asking himself "why does this keep happening to me". In certain cases, normalization theory provides the answer. I don't hesitate to deviate from normalization in physical design when I need to. Received on Thu Nov 11 2004 - 09:47:53 CET