database design

What is Entity Integrity?

January 20, 2026August 23, 2024 by Ian

When working with relational databases, data accuracy and consistency are paramount. When we talk about maintaining the integrity of the data within a relational database, several types of integrity come into play. One of the most fundamental is entity integrity.

This concept is crucial for ensuring that each record within a database table is uniquely identifiable, which in turn supports the reliability of the data. In this article, we will look into what entity integrity is, why it matters, and how it is implemented in practice. We’ll also look at an example to clarify the concept further.

What is the Year 2038 Problem?

January 28, 2021June 19, 2019 by Ian

The Year 2038 problem (also referred to as the Y2K38 bug) refers to a problem that some computer systems might encounter when dealing with times past 2038-01-19 03:14:07.

Many computer systems, such as Unix and Unix-based systems, don’t calculate time using the Gregorian calendar. They calculate time as the number of seconds since 1 January 1970. Therefore, in these systems, time is represented as a big number (i.e. the number of seconds passed since 1970-01-01 00:00:00). This is typically referred to as Epoch time, Unix time, Unix Epoch time, or POSIX time. As I write this, Unix time is 1560913841. And as I write this next line, Unix time has incremented to 1560913879.

What is Normalization?

February 20, 2026October 6, 2017 by Ian

Normalization is the process of organizing a database to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity.

Normalization also simplifies the database design so that it achieves the optimal structure composed of atomic elements (i.e. elements that cannot be broken down into smaller parts).

Also referred to as database normalization or data normalization, normalization is an important part of relational database design, as it helps with the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the database.