Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete

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What Does Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete Mean?

Create, retrieve, update and delete (CRUD) refers to the four major functions implemented in database applications.

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The CRUD functions are the user interfaces to databases, as they permit users to create, view, modify and alter data. CRUD works on entities in databases and manipulates these entities. Any simple database table enforces CRUD constraints.

Techopedia Explains Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete

For instance, a simple student database table adds (creates) new student details, accesses (reads) existing student details, modifies (updates) existing student data such as subjects, and deletes student details when students leave the school.

The commands corresponding to these operations in SQL are INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE and DELETE. INSERT adds new records, SELECT retrieves or selects existing records based on selection conditions, UPDATE modifies existing records and DELETE removes tables or records.

The most efficient way to accomplish CRUD in SQL is through stored procedures, which are automated and controlled by the person managing the procedure generation process. The individual SQL commands INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE and DELETE can be executed by a single statement that calls the stored procedure.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.