The SQL DROP TABLE Statement
The DROP TABLE statement is used to permanently delete an existing table in a database.
Note: Be careful before dropping a table! Dropping a table deletes the entire table and all its content!
Syntax
DROP TABLE table_name;
To prevent an error from occur (if the table does not exists), it is a good practice to add the IF EXISTS clause:
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS table_name;
Note: In most databases you cannot drop a table that is referenced by a foreign key constraint in another table. To solve this, you must remove the foreign key constraint or drop the dependent table.
DROP TABLE Example
The following SQL statement drops the "Shippers" table:
Example
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS Shippers;
SQL TRUNCATE TABLE
The TRUNCATE TABLE statement is used to delete all the records in a table, but it keeps the table structure, columns and constraints.
Syntax
TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;
