Constraints are used to limit the type of data that can go into a table. Integrity constraints are used to ensure accuracy and consistency of data in a relational database. Constraints can be specified when a table is created (with the CREATE TABLE statement) or after the table is created (with the ALTER TABLE statement).

The most difficult part when working with dates is to be sure that the format of the date you are trying to insert, matches the format of the date column in the database. As long as your data contains only the date portion, your queries will work as expected. However, if a time portion is involved, it gets complicated.

After the table( s) are created and begin to be used, requirements are likely to occur which requires modifications in the structure of the table, such as adding new columns to the table, modifying and existing column's definition etc. So these modifications can be performed using the ALTER table DDL statement. Tills statement changes the structure of the table and not its contents. There are many types of modifications that can be made to the structure of the tables. Using ALTER TABLE statement, you can make modifications such as

A FOREIGN KEY in one table points to a PRIMARY KEY in another table. On whichever column you put FOREIGN KEY constraint then the values in that column must refer to existing values in the other table.

The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record in a database table. Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot contain NULL values. Each table should have a primary key, and each table can have only one primary key.