Definition: Foreign keys are the columns of a table that points to the primary key of another table. They act as a cross-reference between tables.
For example:
In the below example the Stu_Id column in Course_enrollment table is a foreign key as it points to the primary key of the Student table.
Course_enrollment table:
| Course_Id | Stu_Id |
| C01 | 101 |
| C02 | 102 |
| C03 | 101 |
| C05 | 102 |
| C06 | 103 |
| C07 | 102 |
Student table:
| Stu_Id | Stu_Name | Stu_Age |
| 101 | Chaitanya | 22 |
| 102 | Arya | 26 |
| 103 | Bran | 25 |
| 104 | Jon | 21 |
Note: Practically, the foreign key has nothing to do with the primary key tag of another table, if it points to a unique column (not necessarily a primary key) of another table then too, it would be a foreign key. So, a correct definition of foreign key would be: Foreign keys are the columns of a table that points to the candidate key of another table.
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