The tradeoff is whether it is better to keep the process of normalization simpler by examining dependencies on primary keys only, which allows the identification of the most problematic and obvious redundancy in relations, or to use the general definitions and increase the opportunity to identify missed redundancy. In fact, it is often the case that
whether we use the definitions based on primary keys or the general definitions of 2NF and 3NF, the decomposition of relations is the same. For example, if we apply the general definitions of 2NF and 3NF to Examples 13.10 and 13.11 described in Sections 13.7 and 13.8, the same decomposition of the larger relations into smaller relations results. The reader may wish to verify this fact.