What does 6NF stand for?

Sixth Normal Form

The abbreviation 6NF stands for Sixth Normal Form in computer science, particularly in database design and normalization. Sixth Normal Form is the most advanced level of normalization, used mainly in specialized cases where data needs to be broken down into the smallest possible parts, especially when dealing with time-varying or highly detailed information. A table is in 6NF if it meets all the requirements of Fifth Normal Form (5NF) and if every non-trivial join dependency is a consequence of the candidate keys. People searching for “6NF database,” “Sixth Normal Form example,” or “database normalization levels” are often working with complex or temporal databases.

Using 6NF helps manage changes in data over time and ensures there is absolutely no redundancy or unwanted dependencies. It’s mostly applied in advanced scenarios, like data warehouses or systems tracking very detailed records.