CST 363 - Week 3

Someone described normalization rule as  "a non-key column depends on the key, the whole key, and nothing but the key, so help me Codd."  Key refers a primary or other candidate key of a table.  If the key has multiple columns, then "whole key" means  all columns together and not just some part of the key.  Explain in your words what 3rd normal form is and why it is important.

3rd normal form is a schema design approach for relational databases that is used in conjunction with normalization principles in order to decrease instances of data duplication and abnormalities. This in turn promotes more efficient storage and retrieval of data. It is also known as 3NF. 

What is an SQL view.  How is it similar to a table? In what ways is it different?

A SQL view is virtual table that is based on a SQL query that refers to other tables in a database. They can be used to select data from multiple tables and can be used for different operations. There serve two primary purposes, to simply SQL queries and limit access to sensitive data. It is similar to a table in that they can have indexes and they are both in a tabular format. Some differences are that tables store data, while a view does not. Also, most views are generally read only.