What is the difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE

In MySQL, both DELETE and TRUNCATE are used to remove records from a table, but they operate differently and have different implications:

  • DELETE: This command is used to remove specific rows from a table based on a condition defined by a WHERE clause. If no condition is specified, all rows from the table will be deleted. DELETE operations can be rolled back if transactions are supported.
  • TRUNCATE: This command removes all rows from a table without logging individual row deletions. It's faster than DELETE because it doesn't generate individual row delete logs and cannot be rolled back. It also resets any auto-increment counters on the table.

Here is an example demonstrating both commands:

// Using DELETE $conn->query("DELETE FROM my_table WHERE id = 1;"); // Using TRUNCATE $conn->query("TRUNCATE TABLE my_table;");

DELETE TRUNCATE MySQL SQL commands data manipulation