What is normalization in databases?

Normalization is the process of organizing a relational database to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity by dividing large tables into smaller, related tables. It follows a set of rules called normal forms (1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF, 4NF, 5NF), each building on the previous. Benefits: eliminates data anomalies (update, insert, delete anomalies), reduces storage, and makes relationships explicit. The tradeoff: more JOINs are required to reconstruct data, which can impact read performance — this is why denormalization is sometimes applied strategically in high-read applications.