398734 - Convert from reference by value to reference by ID meta bug

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 287311

(Bugzilla :: Database, enhancement)

Description

[Kevin Benton]

This meta bug is created to track converting bug fields that are reference by value to reference by ID.  The goal is to do this in stages so review can be done in smaller bite-sized chunks.

Why, you ask?

Our supposition is that converting to reference by non-contextual primary key (ID) 1) saves space in both tables and indexes, 2) provides a clear method of referential integrity enforcement, 3) makes data inserts and updates go faster because indexes are simpler to update and 4) provides a consistency of retrieval for searches.  This also has a side-benefit of simplifying sanitycheck.cgi and improving scalability even further.