First normal form (1NF) is a property of a relation in a relational database. A relation is in first normal form if and only if the domain of each attribute contains only atomic (indivisible) values, and the value of each attribute contains only a single value from that domain.[1] The first definition of the term, in a 1971 conference paper by Edgar Codd, defined a relation to be in first normal form when none of its domains have any sets as elements.[2]
First normal form is an essential property of a relation in a relational database. Database normalization is the process of representing a database in terms of relations in standard normal forms, where first normal is a minimal requirement.
First normal form enforces these criteria:[citation needed]
Eliminate repeating groups[clarification needed] in individual tables
Create a separate table for each set of related data[definition needed]
Identify each set of related data with a primary key