Should I delete or disable a row in a relational database?

Question

In a brand new program where space isn\'t really that big a deal, is it better to delete a row or to disable a row by let\'s say a boolean \"Disabled\" and have the program

Answer 1

As many have already said, the application needs dictated what you want to do. But to me, marking a row seems like not using the right tool for the right thing. We logically think of a delete as a DELETE, so when if you are not allowed to delete for legal reasons, then you don't delete it in the first place. At the same time, i think about all the internal data structure keeping and indexing. Not to mention all the optimizations that can be done to retrieve data, but adding that check(in the view or in the query) affects the performance exponentially with the complexity of the database and the relations the entities have.

In a nutshell, put the deletion logic in the UI layer to prevent user errors and give delete permissions to users who should be able to delete it. Use regular backups for keeping archives. If your application absolutely requires a strict audit history, implement it in triggers and put the audit in an off-site database to avoid all that traffic, check and crap from the production.