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Everything about First normal form

Level of database normalization

First normal form (1NF) is the most basic level of database normalization defined by English computer scientist Edgar F. Codd, the inventor of the relational database. A relation can be said to be in first normal form if each field is atomic, containing a single value rather than a set of values or a nested table. In other words, a relation complies with first normal form if no attribute domain has relations as elements. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: First normal formA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: One-Dimensional First Return Maps for the Two-Dimensional Border-Collision Normal Form with a Zero DeterminantInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Practical mysticismThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Non First Normal Form relations: An algebra allowing data restructuringCited 105 times
  5. Go sideways: Database normalizationA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Relational databaseA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun A stage in the normalization of a relational database in which repeating groups and attributes have been eliminated by putting each into a separate table connected by a primary-key/foreign-key relationship.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Background
  2. Examples
  3. Rationale
  4. Controversy about compound values
  5. Christopher J. Date's definition of 1NF

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics