Oracle DROP TABLE statement is used to remove or delete a table from the Oracle database.

Syntax:

DROP [schema_name].TABLE table_name  
[ CASCADE CONSTRAINTS ]  
[ PURGE ];   

Parameters

schema_name: It specifies the name of the schema that owns the table.

table_name: It specifies the name of the table which you want to remove from the Oracle database.

CASCADE CONSTRAINTS: It is optional. If specified, it will drop all referential integrity constraints as well.

PURGE: It is also optional. If specified, the table and its dependent objects are placed in the recycle bin and can?t be recovered.

If there are referential integrity constraints on table_name and you do not specify the CASCADE CONSTRAINTS option, the DROP TABLE statement will return an error and Oracle will not drop the table.

DROP TABLE Example

DROP TABLE customers;  

This will drop the table named customers.

DROP TABLE Example with PURGE parameter

DROP TABLE customers PURGE  

This statement will drop the table called customers and issue a PURGE so that the space associated with the customers table is released and the customers table is not placed in recycle bin. So, it is not possible to recover that table if required.