The TRUNCATE TABLE statement removes all the rows from a table more quickly than a DELETE. Logically, TRUNCATE TABLE is similar to the DELETE statement with no WHERE clause.
The TRUNCATE TABLE statement removes all the rows from a table, but the table structure and its columns, constraints, indexes, and so on remain intact. To remove the table definition in addition to its data, you can use the DROP TABLE statement.
The basic syntax of TRUNCATE TABLE
can be given with:
table_name
;Although DELETE
and TRUNCATE TABLE
seem to have the same effect, but they do work differently. Here are some major differences between these two statements:
TRUNCATE TABLE
statement drop and re-create the table in such a way that any DELETE
lets you filter which rows to be deleted based upon an optional WHERE
clause, whereas TRUNCATE TABLE
doesn't support WHERE
clause it just removes all the rows.TRUNCATE TABLE
is faster and uses fewer system resources than DELETE
, because DELETE
scans the table to generate a count of rows that were affected then delete the rows one by one and records an entry in the database log for each deleted row, while TRUNCATE TABLE
just delete all the rows without providing any additional information.