DROP The DROP command removes a table from the database. All the tables' rows, indexes and privileges will also be removed. No DML triggers will be fired. The operation cannot be rolled back. TRUNCATE TRUNCATE removes all rows from a table. The operation cannot be rolled back and no triggers will be fired. As such, TRUNCATE is faster and doesn't use as much undo space as a DELETE. Table level lock will be added when Truncating. DELETE The DELETE command is used to remove rows from a table. A WHERE clause can be used to only remove some rows. If no WHERE condition is specified, all rows will be removed. After performing a DELETE operation you need to COMMIT or ROLLBACK the transaction to make the change permanent or to undo it. Note that this operation will cause all DELETE triggers on the table to fire. Row level lock will be added when deleting.

来自:http://www.orafaq.com/faq/difference_between_truncate_delete_and_drop_commands

Truncate命令用于重新初始化表，它是一个删除表中所有行的DDL命令。DELETE是一个DML命令，用于根据某些条件删除一行或一组行，如果没有指定condition，则该命令将删除表中的所有行。

它方便的一个重要原因是，当您需要刷新数百万行表中的数据，但又不想重新构建它时。“Delete *”会花费很长时间，而Truncate对性能的影响可以忽略不计。

都是很好的答案，我必须补充一句:

由于TRUNCATE TABLE是一个DDL(数据定义语言)命令，而不是DML(数据操作语言)命令，删除触发器不会运行。

TRUNCATE是快的，DELETE是慢的。

尽管TRUNCATE没有问责制。

是的，DELETE比较慢，TRUNCATE比较快。为什么?

DELETE必须读取记录，检查约束，更新块，更新索引，并生成重做/撤销。所有这些都需要时间。

TRUNCATE只是在数据库中为表(High Water Mark)调整一个指针，然后!数据不见了。

这是Oracle特有的，AFAIK。