ASSIGNMENT 2 (Group Work to be presented in our next week class)

With respect to normalization expected to;

i. Discus what is normalization.
Normalization is a process of organizing data in a relational database to minimize redundancy,
improve data integrity, and enhance database efficiency
ii. Discuss various reasons of normalization.
Ensure Data Integrity: Normalization helps maintain data integrity by reducing the risk of anomalies and
inconsistencies.
Simplify Data Maintenance: With a normalized database, making changes and updates to the data structure
becomes easier and less error-prone.
Minimize Redundancy: Normalization eliminates redundant data, which reduces storage space and
improves data consistency.
Prevent Update Anomalies: By breaking down data into smaller, related tables, normalization helps prevent
update anomalies, where updating one piece of data may lead to inconsistencies.
iii. Discuss various characteristics of un normalized table.
Transitive Dependencies: Dependencies exist between attributes that are not directly related to the primary
key.
Data Redundancy: The same data appears in multiple places, leading to wasted storage and potential
inconsistencies.
Partial Dependencies: Some attributes may depend on only a subset of the primary key, causing issues
during updates and deletions.
Difficulty in Maintaining Data Integrity: Inconsistent updates become more likely with unnormalized data.
iv. Discuss what is anomaly various types of anomalies as applied in database systems.
Anomalies are inconsistencies that may arise in a database.
They include:
1. Insertion Anomaly: Inability to add data to the database without adding unnecessary data.
2. Deletion Anomaly: Loss of necessary data when deleting certain records.
3. Update Anomaly: Inconsistencies that arise when updating data, leading to discrepancies.
v. Discuss the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Normal Form for each case discussing the defining
characteristics.
First Normal Form : Ensures that each column contains atomic values and there are no
repeating groups.
Second Normal Form : All attributes must be fully functional dependent on the primary
key.
Third Normal Form: Eliminates transitive dependencies, meaning no non-prime attribute
vi.
is dependent on another non-prime attribute.
Normalize the above data up to 3rd normal form

vii. Normalize the above data up to 3rd normal form

Employee table
EMPLOYEE_ID NAME
E001 Alice
E002 Bob
E003 Alice
Job table
JOB_CODE JOB
J01 Chef
JO2 Waiter
J03 Bartender
Location Table
STATE_CODE STATE
26 Michigan
56 wyoming

viii. Explain what is indexing and discuss various significances of appropriate indexing
strategies in optimizing database performance during the physical database design
stage.
Indexing is the creation of data structures that optimize retrieval speed of specific database operations,
especially filtering and joining tables
Significance of Indexing:
1. Faster Queries: Significantly improves query performance, especially for complex searches.
2. Efficient Joins: Optimizes joins by quickly finding matching rows across tables.
ix. Discuss constraints and various of constraints as applied in database systems.
Constraints are rules enforced by the database management system to maintain data integrity and
consistency.
Types of constraints
1. NOT NULL Constraint: Ensures a column cannot contain NULL values, maintaining data
completeness.
2. CHECK Constraint: Defines a specific condition that column values must satisfy, offering more
granular control over data validity.
3. Primary Key Constraint: Uniquely identifies each row in a table. A table can only have one primary
key.
4. Unique Constraint: Guarantees that a specific column or set of columns has unique values within a
table, preventing duplicate entries.
x. Discuss various different ways you would establish user privileges and access
controls to ensure robust security measures within a database?
Role-Based Access Control : Assigning permissions to roles and then assigning roles to users, simplifying
the management of access rights.
Granting and Revoking Privileges: Granting specific privileges (such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE,
DELETE) to users or roles, and revoking them when necessary.
Access Control Lists : Defining access control lists for individual objects in the database, specifying which
users or groups have permissions to access them.
Encryption and Authentication: Implementing encryption techniques and strong a uthentication
mechanisms to secure data and control access.
xi. Explain the difference between NULL values and empty values, and discuss when it
is appropriate to allow NULL values in a database schema.