Which statement deletes data?

Peer-reviewed by HireXTech Technical Panel • Updated for 2025/2026 hiring • Editorial standards

Interviewer Expectations for this Question

Core Competency

Assesses fundamental understanding of SQL & Databases conventions, runtime behavior, and memory/performance considerations.

Evaluation Criteria

Hiring managers look for precision, avoidance of ambiguous jargon, and ability to explain trade-offs under real production conditions.

Comprehensive Model Answer Verified Solution

The DELETE statement removes existing rows from a table based on a condition:

DELETE FROM Customers 
WHERE is_active = 0 AND last_login < '2023-01-01';

### DELETE vs TRUNCATE:

DELETE removes rows one by one, records each deletion in the transaction log, and fires ON DELETE triggers.
TRUNCATE deallocates data pages in bulk, does not fire triggers, and resets identity seeds.

Start with a concise one-sentence summary: Deliver a direct, confident answer first before expanding into nuances.
Demonstrate real-world trade-offs: Discuss where this approach excels and when you would avoid it in production systems.
Discuss complexity & edge cases: Proactively explain time/space complexity or boundary conditions (null values, scale limits).
Prepare for interviewer follow-ups: Technical hiring panels frequently probe deeper into concurrency, backward compatibility, or alternative libraries.

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