## TL;DR

Database normalization reduces data redundancy and anomalies by organizing data into well-structured tables. Normal forms: 1NF (atomic values), 2NF (no partial dependencies), 3NF (no transitive dependencies), BCNF (every determinant is a candidate key). Most databases target 3NF — enough to eliminate most anomalies while remaining practical.

## Core Explanation

1NF: each cell holds single value, each row unique. 2NF: non-key attributes depend on the whole primary key (not part). 3NF: non-key attributes depend on nothing but the primary key. Denormalization: intentionally introduce redundancy for read performance (common in analytics/OLAP). Trade-off: normalization = write-optimized, denormalization = read-optimized.

## Further Reading

- [Database Systems: The Complete Book (Garcia-Molina, Ullman, Widom)](undefined)