This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Galisetty Priyatham
The Use Case
Let’s say we’re building a system to track maintenance sessions (WorkSession). Each session requires an approval (Approval) from a contractor before work can begin.
At first, we had a simple schema:
WorkSession
session_id (PK)
Approval
approval_id (PK)
session_id (FK)
contractor_name
Each Approval was linked directly to a WorkSession. But soon, a real-world need surfaced:
Sometimes, one approval covers multiple sessions.
But our database design didn't allow that. Instead, we had to duplicate approval records for each session — not ideal.
The Solution
We redesigned the schema to support many-to-many relationships using a join table:
WorkSession_Approval
session_id (FK)
approval_id (FK)
Now, a single Approval can be reused across multiple sessions.
In the UI, we added a feature for users to search and select existing approvals, reducing redundancy and simplifying workflows.
Why It Matters
Reusable data = fewer records, less clutter
Easier to maintain & more accurate
Reflects actual business logic
These kinds of small design shifts from tightly coupled to normalized lead to systems that scale better, adapt to real-world use cases, and are easier to evolve.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Galisetty Priyatham
Galisetty Priyatham | Sciencx (2025-06-15T02:47:48+00:00) From Redundancy to Reusability: A Better Way to Manage Shared Records in Relational Databases. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/06/15/from-redundancy-to-reusability-a-better-way-to-manage-shared-records-in-relational-databases/
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