TRUNCATE vs DELETE in Oracle: Key Differences

In Oracle database, both truncate and delete are used to delete data from a table, but they have some important differences.

1. truncate is a DDL statement, whereas delete is a DML statement. Truncate statement immediately releases table space, while delete statement does not. This means that using truncate to delete data from a table will be faster but it cannot be rolled back.
2. The truncate statement deletes all data in the entire table, while the delete statement can delete only specific data based on conditions.
3. The truncate statement does not trigger triggers on the table, while the delete statement does.
4. The truncate statement does not activate the ON DELETE trigger of a table, whereas the delete statement does.

In summary, to delete all data from a table without the option to rollback, you can use the truncate statement. If you need to delete specific data based on conditions or trigger a trigger, then you should use the delete statement.