felix
felix

Reputation: 11552

Foreign Key Relationship in Rails

I am a beginner in Rails and I read that the Rails enforces the foreign key relationships at the model level and also at the database level in the migration file, while creating the table. Is it really necessary and what kind of advantage does it provide

Upvotes: 1

Views: 364

Answers (2)

Tilendor
Tilendor

Reputation: 48923

I highly recommend creating foriegn keys, you can look at my answer here.

Short answer: can increase performance due to indexes created by foreign keys. Reduces invalid data, which can lead to cleaner code.

Upvotes: 1

frankodwyer
frankodwyer

Reputation: 14048

It is not strictly required, however it is a good idea both from the perspective of documenting that the relationship exists, and to help to maintain database integrity and bring business logic errors to light more quickly. It is also generally a good idea to follow rails conventions rather than swim against the tide, unless you have a very compelling reason to do so.

Upvotes: 3

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