それなりの規模のMySQL運用だと外部キーを使用するのをためらう理由がある。
CREATE TABLE `member` (
`id` INTEGER unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
`earned_item_count` INTEGER unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
`name` VARCHAR(191) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4;
CREATE TABLE `item` (
`id` SMALLINT unsigned NOT NULL,
`name` VARCHAR(191) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4;
CREATE TABLE `member_item` (
`member_id` INTEGER unsigned NOT NULL,
`item_id` SMALLINT unsigned NOT NULL,
`amount` INTEGER unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
CONSTRAINT `member_item_fk` FOREIGN KEY (`item_id`) REFERENCES `item` (`id`),
CONSTRAINT `member_item_fk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`member_id`) REFERENCES `member` (`id`),
PRIMARY KEY (`member_id`, `item_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4;
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/partitioning-limitations-storage-engines.html
InnoDB foreign keys and MySQL partitioning are not compatible. Partitioned InnoDB tables cannot have foreign key references, nor can they have columns referenced by foreign keys. InnoDB tables which have or which are referenced by foreign keys cannot be partitioned.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/create-table-foreign-keys.html
MySQL requires indexes on foreign keys and referenced keys so that foreign key checks can be fast and not require a table scan. In the referencing table, there must be an index where the foreign key columns are listed as the first columns in the same order. Such an index is created on the referencing table automatically if it does not exist. This index might be silently dropped later, if you create another index that can be used to enforce the foreign key constraint. index_name, if given, is used as described previously.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/innodb-locks-set.html
If a FOREIGN KEY constraint is defined on a table, any insert, update, or delete that requires the constraint condition to be checked sets shared record-level locks on the records that it looks at to check the constraint. InnoDB also sets these locks in the case where the constraint fails.