What is DDL?

What is DDL?

Data Definition Language helps you to define the database structure or schema. Let’s learn about DDL commands with syntax.

Five types of DDL commands in SQL are:

CREATE

CREATE statements is used to define the database structure schema:

Syntax:

CREATE TABLE TABLE_NAME (COLUMN_NAME DATATYPES[,....]); 

For example:

Create database university;
Create table students;
Create view for_students;

DROP

Drops commands remove tables and databases from RDBMS.

Syntax

DROP TABLE ;

For example:

Drop object_type object_name;
Drop database university;
Drop table student;

ALTER

Alters command allows you to alter the structure of the database.

Syntax:

To add a new column in the table

ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name COLUMN-definition; 

To modify an existing column in the table:

ALTER TABLE MODIFY(COLUMN DEFINITION....);  

For example:

Alter table student add subject varchar; 

TRUNCATE:

This command used to delete all the rows from the table and free the space containing the table.

Syntax:

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;  

Example:

TRUNCATE table students;