What is a good KISS description of Boyce-Codd normal form?

Question

What is a KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) way to remember what Boyce-Codd normal form is and how to take a unnormalized table and BCNF it?

Wikipedia\'s info: not terribly

Answer 1

Often times it is easiest to listen to your gut and this will come naturally. Generally speaking, if you meet 3NF you have met BCNF. This doesn't cover detailed analysis of an ERD or have examples but there are thirteen rules according to Codd. I find it best to follow these rules but always remember there is no one correct way to do things so follow them loosely. So regarding the RDBMS, here are the rules:

http://www.87android.com/12-rules-of-relational-database-model-by-codd/

This may not answer the question directly, but if you are asking about how to get to BCNF or an easy way to remember it then you don't understand normalization well enough. That is of no concern though. Relational databases take many forms and very few are done well. The best thing you can do is know what it means to be relational, follow the rules above, and do not worry about the level of normalization. The process of normalization eliminates the duplication of data. Each level more so by moving into migration of functional dependencies. Keep that in mind and you will be fine, your gut and intellect will do the rest.