Question Discussion & Solution

🔑 Key Points

• The definition of First Normal Form (1NF) states that each column in a table must contain atomic values.
• An atomic value is a single, indivisible piece of data; it cannot be broken down further.
• This means there should be no multi-valued attributes (e.g., a single cell containing multiple phone numbers) or composite attributes that can be decomposed within a single column.
• It is the most basic form of normalization.

📄 Additional Information

• To achieve 1NF, you typically identify and separate multi-valued attributes into their own tables or break down composite attributes into individual columns.
• For example, if a 'Phone_Numbers' column contains '123-456-7890, 098-765-4321', it violates 1NF. It should be split into multiple rows or a separate linked table.
• All subsequent normal forms build upon the requirements of 1NF.