MySql silently ignores "references" keyword on table creation - mysql

Question

mysql> create database test;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> use test;
Database changed
mysql> create table one (id int not null primary key);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.03 sec)
mysql> -- here is the problem
mysql> create table two (oneid int not null references one(id));
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)
mysql> -- here are the first signs of issues!!!!
mysql> show create table two;
+-------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table | Create Table |
+-------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| two | CREATE TABLE `two` (
`oneid` int(11) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 |
+-------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> -- here is the issue: an insert with no reference
mysql> insert into two values (-12);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> select * from two;
+-------+
| oneid |
+-------+
| -12 |
+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> -- if you want to know:
mysql> SHOW Variables WHERE Variable_name='foreign_key_checks';
+--------------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+--------------------+-------+
| foreign_key_checks | ON |
+--------------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
After my research, the only question here is: why MySql do not reject table two creation because of its not valid syntax and instead it silently create the table without the foreign key reference?
Just for completeness here is the correct syntax for MySql.
mysql> create table three(oneid int not null, CONSTRAINT whatEverName FOREIGN KEY (oneid) REFERENCES one(id));
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.04 sec)

Answer 1

MySQL parses but ignores “inline REFERENCES specifications” (as defined in the SQL standard) where the references are defined as part of the column specification. MySQL accepts REFERENCES clauses only when specified as part of a separate FOREIGN KEY specification.
You can go here and read more yourself...