Advantages of the Surrogate Key
- As there is no direct information related with the table, so the changes are only based on the requirements of the application.
- Performance is enhanced as the value of the key is relatively smaller.
- The key value is guaranteed to contain unique information .
- As it holds smaller constant values , this makes integration of the table easy .
- Enables us to run fast queries (as compared to the natural primary key)
Surrogate Key in DBMS
A key is a column, or group of columns, in a database management system (DBMS) that uniquely identifies every row in a table. Natural keys and surrogate keys are the two categories of keys.
- Natural Key: A column, or group of columns, that is generated from the table’s data is known as a natural key. For instance, since it uniquely identifies every client in the table, the customer ID column in a customer table serves as a natural key.
- Surrogate key: A column that is not generated from the data in the database is known as a surrogate key. Rather, the DBMS generates a unique identifier for you. In database tables, surrogate keys are frequently utilized as primary keys.