Components of Databases - Assignment Example

The hitter statics include home runs, batting average, stolen bases, doubles, triples, and walks. The pitcher statistics are strikeouts, walks, saves, innings pitched, earned runs, wins, and losses.

The following design may then be used. We assume that each player belongs to two categories i.e. hitter or pitcher.

An entity is in the first normal form if it contains no repeating sets of data. Similarly, the above attributes contain several repeating attributes. Walks for example are found between the pitcher and the hitter. This wastes a lot of space in the database. To normalize the ERD into INF we eliminate the redundant data.

In 1NF we introduce the primary key. The primary key is a unique identifier that identifies an item (Marston, 2004). For example, each player has a unique ID that can serve as the primary key.

In 2NF we further normalize the diagram and include foreign keys. These foreign keys are items that are used as primary keys in other attributes. The away team D for example was used in 1NF as the primary key for the Away team. It is therefore introduced into the game attribute as a foreign key.

When we develop the 3NF we ensure that there is no redundancy. The relationship between player and batting is one too many. This means that a player can play for only one team at a time. The relationship between a team and a player is many to one meaning that many players can batt.

Drawing this 3NF diagram breaks down the design stage into smaller pieces that are manageable. The database can therefore be developed with ease.