Data Definition
The Data Definition Language (DDL) manages table and index structure. The most basic items of DDL are the CREATE
, ALTER
, RENAME
, DROP
and TRUNCATE
statements:
CREATE
creates an object (a table, for example) in the database, e.g.:
ALTER
modifies the structure of an existing object in various ways, for example, adding a column to an existing table or a constraint, e.g.:
TRUNCATE
deletes all data from a table in a very fast way, deleting the data inside the table and not the table itself. It usually implies a subsequent COMMIT operation, i.e., it cannot be rolled back (data is not written to the logs for rollback later, unlike DELETE).
DROP
deletes an object in the database, usually irretrievably, i.e., it cannot be rolled back, e.g.:
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