What is the Difference Between Drop and Truncate

The main difference between Drop and Truncate is that Drop is a DDL command that helps to delete all records of the table, remove the table structure and to remove the database from the system, while truncate is a DDL command that helps to remove the records from the table.

Generally, RDBMS is a DBMS designed according to the relational model. It helps to store and manage data in databases easily. Therefore, most business organizations use RDBMS.  Structured Query Language (SQL) helps to manipulate the data stored in the RDBMS. Furthermore, there are various types of SQL commands. One of them is the Data Definition Language (DDL) commands. These commands are used to perform tasks such as creating, modifying and deleting tables. Additionally, DDL commands save the changes permanently to the database. Overall, Drop and Truncate are two DDL commands.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is Drop
      -Definition, Functionality
2. What is Truncate
     -Definition, Functionality
3. Difference Between Drop and Truncate
     -Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

DDL, Drop, RDBMS, SQL, Truncate

Difference Between Drop and Truncate - Comparison Summary

What is Drop

The drop command removes all the records from the database. Moreover, it destroys the table structure too. The syntax is Drop table table_name;

Difference Between Drop and Truncate

An example is as follows.

Drop table employee;

The statement above will remove all the records of the employee table and also remove the table structure from the database.

Furthermore, it is possible to drop an entire database from the RDBMS. An example is as follows.

Drop database testing;

The above statement will remove the database called testing from the RDBMS.

What is Truncate

The truncate command removes all the records from a table without affecting the table structure. Moreover, the primary key is initialized after applying the truncate command on the table.  The syntax is truncate table table_name;

For example, refer below statement.

Truncate table employee;

It will remove all the records from the table called employee.

Difference Between Drop and Truncate

Definition

Drop is a DDL command that destroys the table structure and the data stored in it. But, truncate is a DDL command that helps to remove the records of a table.

Functionality

Moreover, Drop helps to remove the records of the table, table structure and to remove the database from the system, while Truncate helps to remove the records from the table.

Syntax applied on a table

Furthermore, the syntax of Drop is, Drop table table_name; On the other hand, the syntax of Truncate is, Truncate table table_name;

Conclusion

In brief, SQL is the programming language that helps to manipulate the data in the databases of RDBMS. Moreover, there are various types of SQL commands, and one of them is Data Definition Language (DDL). Two of the DDL commands are Drop and Truncate. Here, the main difference between Drop and Truncate is that Drop is DDL command that helps to delete all records of the table, remove the table structure and to remove the database from the system, while truncate is a DDL command that helps to remove the records from the table. Further, in addition to DDL commands, there are also DML and DCL commands to manipulate data and to control data.

References:

1.“Truncate, Drop or Rename a Table.” Studytonight, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1.”database, symbol, icon” By RRZEicons – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

About the Author: Lithmee

Lithmee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Systems Engineering and is reading for her Master’s degree in Computer Science. She is passionate about sharing her knowldge in the areas of programming, data science, and computer systems.

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