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  • I rarely use enforced constraints in the db. They can be a PITA to debug. I find it easier to manage in code. Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 4:00
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    I'm trying to imagine a scenario where a db constraint is hard to debug. I've had my fair share of relationship issues to debug, but I can't think of any that were difficult to debug. Could you give an example that was hard to debug? Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 4:25
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    @Christophe, it could have been pertinent to mention that they were AS400 developers (which has been edited out). It could suggest all kinds, but I'd suggest at a minimum it tends to suggest they are experienced developers who have worked in environments where correctness is likely to have been valued highly. Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 13:14
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    The real problem here is that they want to use a database as an API which has so many issues that "there are no constraints" would be somewhere on page 2. Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 14:37
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    @Christophe, Steve I never saw the original post but comments mention AS400 (really IBM i now). Way back when the AS400's came from a time where they didn't really have the capability for referential integrity in the database so it was not common. If the application or developers came from this time that could explain the lack of RI. The modern DB2i has all the capabilities but adding those to an old application, or maybe the developers embracing them can sometimes be difficult. Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 14:49