Explain the concept of normalization and its benefits.

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

Main advantages of normalization:

• Reduction of data redundancy — data is stored in one place, which reduces duplication.
• Ensuring data integrity — changes in one place are automatically reflected in all related data.
• Simplification of maintenance and updates — easier to make changes without the risk of inconsistency.
• Improved storage efficiency — saves space by eliminating repetitive data.

For example, instead of storing customer information in each order record, normalization involves creating a separate customers table and referencing it from the orders table.