Q&A
| Q1: | When should I normalize a database? |
| A1: | The best time to normalize is immediately after you have worked out what tables you need to model the business need.
It's possible to normalize the database later in the process, after application development has started and even after the system is functioning. However, doing changes later in the development process, especially when there's live data in your tables, requires more effort because you will then have to modify application code and migrate data, which will be far more complicated. Nevertheless, the normalized model you achieve at this stage will often be refined, especially if you pay careful consideration to performance, which can lead to you denormalizing data or using other tactics ... |
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