
DELETE FROM dbo.MoviesĬonversely, a soft delete is a logical decision made by the development team to mark records to ignore during queries. For example, SQL-based databases can run DELETE statements to remove records from a table (hands up if you’ve ever accidentally forgotten the WHERE clause). Physical deletes commonly use a mechanism of the data storage engine to execute a non-reversible command. Data deleted through a physical delete is lost, and only system administrators can recover the data, typically using extreme measures or backups. What is a Soft Delete?Īs alluded to in the introduction, there are two kinds of deletes in application development: physical and logical.Ī physical delete removes a record from a data store and is highly destructive.
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This post will explore how to implement a Soft Delete strategy with Entity Framework Core and how to use it during writing and reading to your database engine of choice. You may also be required by law to retain data for a certain period, and this strategy can help you accomplish those requirements.

With hard lessons learned, many developers will turn to a Soft Delete strategy allowing them to reverse accidental deletes, maintain data integrity, and general administrative oversight.

So what does the user mean when they say “ delete my data”? Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ll quickly realize the user wants to logically delete information from cluttering the user interface and not permanently delete records out of existence… Oops 😬. I’m sure we’ve all had a turbulent relationship with the definition of “delete” throughout our development careers.
