Explain DELETE in SQL

The DELETE statement in SQL is used to remove rows from a table. This statement can delete specific rows based on conditions, or it can delete all rows if no condition is specified.

Here are the basic syntaxes:

1. Delete Specific Rows:

   DELETE FROM table_name
   WHERE condition;
   

2. Delete All Rows:

   DELETE FROM table_name;
   

Examples

Example 1: Delete Specific Rows

Suppose we have a table called employees:

CREATE TABLE employees (
    id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(50),
    position VARCHAR(50),
    salary DECIMAL(10, 2)
);

INSERT INTO employees (id, name, position, salary) VALUES
(1, 'Alice', 'Manager', 75000),
(2, 'Bob', 'Developer', 60000),
(3, 'Charlie', 'Designer', 55000),
(4, 'David', 'Developer', 62000);

To delete the employee with the name 'Bob':

DELETE FROM employees
WHERE name = 'Bob';

Result: The table employees will now look like this:

Example 2: Delete All Rows

To delete all rows from the employees table:

DELETE FROM employees;

Result: The table employees will now be empty:

Important Points

• Use with Caution: The DELETE statement can be very powerful and potentially dangerous if used incorrectly. Always make sure to specify a WHERE clause unless you intend to delete all rows.
• Transactions: It's good practice to use transactions when performing delete operations to ensure data integrity. You can rollback the transaction if something goes wrong.
• Referential Integrity: Be cautious of foreign key constraints that might affect the deletion of rows. Deleting rows that are referenced by other tables might lead to errors or unexpected behavior.

Example with Transactions

BEGIN TRANSACTION;

DELETE FROM employees
WHERE name = 'Alice';

-- Check if the deletion is as expected
SELECT * FROM employees;

-- If everything looks good
COMMIT;

-- If something went wrong
ROLLBACK;

By using transactions, you can ensure that your delete operation is safe and can be undone if necessary.