The basic idea of the relational model was actually data independence, i.e. optimization for flexibility. If you are interested you can have a look at the origi

The basic idea of the relational model was actually data independence, i.e. optimization for flexibility. If you are interested you can have a look at the original paper from 1970: https://www.seas.upenn.edu/~zives/03f/cis550/codd.pdf https://www.seas.upenn.edu/~zives/03f/cis550/codd.pdf