[AnimalMuppet]

> What do I get ? You get what you ask for.

In the join case, don't I get a NULL in the row that comes back if there isn't an entry in the other table? Or do I just not get a row?

> Then you do what needs to be done as specified by the business in the case the queried piece of information is unknown.

Sure, but how do I represent that condition in my software? With a different class/structure? With a flag that indicates that the other field isn't valid? Or with a null?

From where I sit, normalization doesn't make the problem go away at all.