Cascading Delete

Definitions

1. A database behavior in which deleting a parent row automatically deletes related child rows according to foreign-key rules. Cascading deletes can simplify cleanup, but they must be used carefully because a seemingly small deletion may fan out into far more data loss than expected.

   In plain English: A database rule that automatically deletes related records when a parent record is deleted.

   Example: "The incident started with an accidental cascading delete that removed an account record and every dependent subscription, invoice, and preference row."

Related Terms

• Persistence
• Seed Data
• Snapshot
• Automated Migration
• Blob
• Cascading Update
• Column Index
• Composite Index