I guess data integrity is unimportant to you. Foreign keys constrain data so that you don't get orphan records hosing your database. They stop stupid things, such as massive deletes and bad data from getting into the system. I've been using them religiously for years, and fail to see how they add a burden - if you understand what a database is. Most of the DB code I've dealt with has been written by front-end dev who have little of no idea of what database design is all about so they comeup with the lamest trash and go to all end to defend their code and ignorance. MySQL is a data garbage can. It's missing so much of the real power of SQL (optimizers, constraints, and stored procedures) that it's moves the entire coding burden to the front-end or lame-assed middle-tier level.
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I guess data integrity is unimportant to you. Foreign keys constrain data so that you don't get orphan records hosing your database. They stop stupid things, such as massive deletes and bad data from getting into the system. I've been using them religiously for years, and fail to see how they add a burden - if you understand what a database is. Most of the DB code I've dealt with has been written by front-end dev who have little of no idea of what database design is all about so they comeup with the lamest trash and go to all end to defend their code and ignorance. MySQL is a data garbage can. It's missing so much of the real power of SQL (optimizers, constraints, and stored procedures) that it's moves the entire coding burden to the front-end or lame-assed middle-tier level.