Once a database is designed “correctly” the first time, it will never need redesign or refactoring in the future. Is this claim valid given evolving business requirements and workloads?

Database Database Redesign Difficulty: Easy
Choose an option
Answer

Correct Answer: Incorrect

Explanation

Introduction / Context:Database schemas are living artifacts. Even a well-designed schema must adapt to new features, regulations, volumes, and performance constraints. This question challenges the idea that an initially perfect design eliminates future redesign.

Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Business rules evolve (pricing, tax, products, workflows).
  • Nonfunctional needs change (scale, latency, availability).
  • Technology shifts (new engines, indexing, partitioning).

Concept / Approach:Good design anticipates change via normalization, abstraction, and modularity, but cannot foresee everything. Redesign may introduce new entities, refactor relationships, partition large tables, or denormalize selectively for analytics.

Step-by-Step Solution:Monitor pain points (slow queries, anomalies).Collect requirements and profile data usage.Propose minimal, consistent schema changes.Test migrations with representative loads.Deploy iteratively with rollback strategies.

Verification / Alternative check:Historical change logs in mature systems show periodic schema evolution driven by real-world needs.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:Using BCNF or being read-only does not freeze requirements; archival systems may still need new compliance attributes or access patterns.

Common Pitfalls:Deferring necessary refactors; making piecemeal changes that create inconsistencies.

Final Answer:Incorrect

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