The Fourth Normal Form (4NF) is a concept in database theory aimed at structuring database tables to reduce redundancy and anomalies. It builds upon the principles of the first three normal forms (1NF, 2NF, and 3NF).

The 4NF aims to address Multivalued Dependency (MVD), which occurs when a table contains attributes that do not depend on a primary key but are related to each other beyond the primary key. When a table is in 4NF, it means it is in 3NF and does not contain MVDs.

In practice, this means that in a 4NF table, each non-key attribute combination is functionally dependent on every one of its superkeys, where a superkey is a set of attributes that uniquely identifies a tuple in the table. Achieving 4NF can make databases more efficiently designed by minimizing redundancies and maximizing data integrity.

The Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) is a normalization form in relational database theory that aims to eliminate redundancy and anomalies in a database. It is a stricter form of the Third Normal Form (3NF) and is often considered an extension of it.

A relation (table) is in Boyce-Codd Normal Form if it meets the following conditions:

1. The relation is in Third Normal Form (3NF): This means it is already in First and Second Normal Form, and there are no transitive dependencies between the attributes.

2. Every non-trivial functional dependency $X\to Y$ has a superkey as the determinant: This means that for every functional dependency where $X$ is the set of attributes determining $Y$, $X$ must be a superkey. A superkey is a set of attributes that can uniquely identify the entire relation.

Differences from Third Normal Form (3NF)

While Third Normal Form requires that any attribute not part of the primary key must be directly dependent on it (not transitively through another attribute), BCNF goes a step further. It requires that all determinants (the left-hand side of functional dependencies) must be superkeys.

Example

Consider a relation R with attributes A, B, and C, and the following functional dependencies:

• $A\to B$
• $B\to C$

To check if this relation is in BCNF, we proceed as follows:

• We observe that $A\to B$ is not problematic if $A$ is a superkey.
• However, $B\to C$ is problematic if $B$ is not a superkey, as $B$ in this case cannot uniquely identify the entire relation.

If $B$ is not a superkey, the relation is not in BCNF and must be decomposed into two relations to meet BCNF requirements:

• One relation containing $B$ and $C$
• Another relation containing $A$ and $B$

Summary

The Boyce-Codd Normal Form is stricter than the Third Normal Form and ensures that there are no functional dependencies where the left-hand side is not a superkey. This helps to avoid redundancy and anomalies in the database structure and ensures data integrity.

The Third Normal Form (3NF) is a stage in database normalization aimed at minimizing redundancies and ensuring data integrity. A relation (table) is in Third Normal Form if it satisfies the following conditions:

1. The relation is in Second Normal Form (2NF):

   • This means the relation is in First Normal Form (1NF) (all attribute values are atomic, no repeating groups).
   • All non-key attributes are fully functionally dependent on the entire primary key, not just part of it.

2. No transitive dependencies:

   • No non-key attribute depends transitively on a candidate key. This means a non-key attribute should not depend on another non-key attribute.

In detail, for a relation $R$ to be in 3NF, for every non-key attribute $A$ and every candidate key $K$ in $R$, the following condition must be met:

$\text{If }A\text{ depends on }K,\text{ then }A\text{ should depend directly on }K$$\text{and not through another attribute}B\text{ that itself depends on }K.$

Example:

Suppose we have a Students table with the following attributes:

• Student_ID (Primary Key)
• Name
• Course_ID
• Course_Name
• Instructor

In this table, the attributes Course_Name and Instructor might depend on Course_ID, not directly on Student_ID. This is an example of a transitive dependency because:

• Student_ID → Course_ID
• Course_ID → Course_Name, Instructor

To convert this table to 3NF, we eliminate transitive dependencies by splitting the table. We could create two tables:

1. Students:

   • Student_ID (Primary Key)
   • Name
   • Course_ID

2. Courses:

   • Course_ID (Primary Key)
   • Course_Name
   • Instructor

Now, both tables are in 3NF because each non-key attribute depends directly on the primary key and there are no transitive dependencies.

By achieving Third Normal Form, data consistency is increased, and redundancies are reduced, which improves the efficiency of database operations.

The second normal form (2NF) is a concept in database normalization, a process used to organize data in a relational database to minimize redundancy and ensure data integrity. To transform a relation (table) into the second normal form, the following conditions must be met:

1. The relation must be in the first normal form (1NF): This means the table should not contain any repeating groups, and all attributes must be atomic (each attribute contains only one value).

2. Every non-key attribute must depend fully on the entire primary key: This means no non-key attribute should depend on just a part of a composite key. This rule aims to eliminate partial dependencies.

Example of Second Normal Form

Let's assume we have an Orders table with the following attributes:

• OrderID (Primary Key)
• ProductID (part of the composite key)
• CustomerName
• CustomerAddress
• ProductName
• Quantity

In this case, the composite key would be OrderID, ProductID because an order can contain multiple products.

To bring this table into the second normal form, we need to ensure that all non-key attributes (CustomerName, CustomerAddress, ProductName, Quantity) fully depend on the entire composite key. If this is not the case, we need to split the table.

Step 1: Decompose the Orders table:

1. Create an Orders table with the attributes:

   • OrderID (Primary Key)
   • CustomerName
   • CustomerAddress

2. Create an OrderDetails table with the attributes:

   • OrderID (Foreign Key)
   • ProductID (part of the composite key)
   • ProductName
   • Quantity

Now we have two tables:

Orders:

• OrderID (Primary Key)
• CustomerName
• CustomerAddress

OrderDetails:

• OrderID (Foreign Key)
• ProductID (Primary Key)
• ProductName
• Quantity

By splitting the original table this way, we have ensured that all non-key attributes in the Orders and OrderDetails tables fully depend on the primary key. This means both tables are now in the second normal form.

Applying the second normal form helps to avoid update anomalies and ensures a consistent data structure.

The first normal form (1NF) is a rule in relational database design that ensures a table inside a database has a specific structure. This rule helps to avoid redundancy and maintain data integrity. The requirements of the first normal form are as follows:

1. Atomic Values: Each attribute (column) in a table must contain atomic (indivisible) values. This means each value in a column must be a single value, not a list or set of values.
2. Unique Column Names: Each column in a table must have a unique name to avoid confusion.
3. Unique Row Identifiability: Each row in the table must be uniquely identifiable. This is usually achieved through a primary key, ensuring that no two rows have identical values in all columns.
4. Consistent Column Order: The order of columns should be fixed and unambiguous.

Here is an example of a table that is not in the first normal form:

In this table, the "PhoneNumbers" column contains multiple values per row, which violates the first normal form.

To bring this table into the first normal form, you would restructure it so that each phone number has its own row:

By restructuring the table this way, it now meets the conditions of the first normal form, as each cell contains atomic values.