Removing or deleting databases

To remove or delete a database in MySQL, we use a DROP statement. This statement is functionally the opposite of the basic CREATE statement used previously:

DROP DATABASE <database name>;

So, for csv, a DROP statement would look like this:

DROP DATABASE csv;

Note that the DROP statement not only deletes the structure of the database setup by CREATE but also irrevocably drops all of the database data, as well.

Avoiding errors

As with the CREATE statement, MySQL's DROP statement also supports a test for existence. If the database you wish to drop does not exist, MySQL will throw an error. Therefore, it is good practice to use the IF EXISTS conditional as follows:

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS <database name>;

For a database called foo, this statement would read:

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS foo;

Preventing (illegal) access after a DROP

By dropping a database, one simply removes it from the list of available databases that MySQL knows about.

Note

Using DROP does not remove...