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Data & Analytics · Foundational

Atomic Value

A value that cannot be meaningfully divided further for the purposes of the data model.

Definition

Atomicity of values is required for 1NF. What counts as atomic depends on how the data is used: a full address may be atomic for a mailing list but not for analysis by city. Do not confuse atomic values with transaction atomicity in ACID.

Example

Splitting FullName into FirstName and LastName so each column is atomic.

Exam tip

'Atomic value' is about normalization; 'atomicity' in ACID is about transactions being all-or-nothing.

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