Summary

This article has covered the basics of database design in the context of Microsoft Access. The main concepts covered were:

• The relational database model was created by E.F. Codd in 1969 and is founded on set theory and logic.
  
• A database designed according to the relational model will be efficient, predictable, well performing, self-documenting and easy to modify.
  
• Every table must have a primary key, which uniquely identifies rows in the table.
  
• Foreign keys are columns used to reference a primary key in another table.
  
• You can establish three kinds of relationships between tables in a relational database: one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many. Many-to-many relationships require a linking table.
  
• Normalization is the process of simplifying the design of a database so that it achieves the optimum structure.
  
• A well-designed database follows the Normal Forms.
  
• The entity integrity rule forbids nulls in primary key columns.
  
• The referential integrity rule says that the database must not contain any unmatched foreign key values.
  
• Business rules are an important part of database integrity.
  
• A well-designed database requires business insight, time, and experience.
  
• Occasionally, you made need to denormalize for performance.

Database design is an important component of application design. If you take the time to design your databases properly, you'll be rewarded with a solid application foundation on which you can build the rest of your application.