Table vs. View — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 15, 2024
A table is a database structure storing data in rows and columns, whereas a view is a virtual table resulting from a predefined SQL query.
Difference Between Table and View
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
In database management, a table is a fundamental structure that stores data physically in a row and column format. Each row represents a unique record, and each column represents a field within the record. On the other hand, a view is a virtual table that does not store data physically; instead, it provides a dynamic result set of a stored query. Views are used to simplify complex queries, limit data access, and provide a level of abstraction.
Tables are directly editable, meaning that you can insert, update, or delete data as needed. This makes tables essential for daily operations in data handling and storage in databases. Whereas, views are generally not directly editable since they are the result of a query. Some views, however, can be updatable under specific conditions if they meet certain SQL standards.
The data in a table is persistent, meaning it remains in the database until it is explicitly changed or removed. This is because tables are designed to be a stable and reliable storage format for data. In contrast, the data seen in a view is dynamic and changes automatically when the underlying table data is modified, reflecting the latest information based on the SQL query defining the view.
When it comes to performance, tables typically provide faster access to data because they hold actual data in the database. Views, however, might slow down database performance if the underlying SQL query is complex, as the query needs to be run every time the view is accessed.
Security is a critical aspect where views have a distinct advantage. They can be used to restrict access to specific rows or columns in the tables, thus providing a secure way to share data with various users while protecting sensitive information. This contrasts with tables, where security measures are more about restricting access to the table itself rather than its individual components.
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Comparison Chart
Physical Storage
Stores data physically in rows and columns
Does not store data; displays results of a query
Editability
Directly editable (insert, update, delete)
Not directly editable, some are updatable under conditions
Data Persistence
Data is persistent
Data is dynamic, depends on underlying tables
Performance
Typically faster access to data
Potentially slower, depends on query complexity
Security
Restricts access to the entire table
Can restrict access to specific rows or columns
Compare with Definitions
Table
A structured set of data held in a database in rows and columns.
The customer table stores individual records for each customer.
View
A virtual table created by a query on one or more tables.
A view of active customers might only include those with recent purchases.
Table
Allows for direct manipulation through SQL commands.
INSERT INTO students VALUES (1, 'John Doe');
View
Provides a customizable perspective or representation of the database data.
A finance view might display only the financial columns from several tables.
Table
Data remains stable and unchanged unless explicitly modified.
Updating a record in the products table reflects in all related queries.
View
Non-storable, dynamically generating data upon each access.
Accessing a sales view recalculates totals based on the current data.
Table
A piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, providing a level surface for eating, writing, or working at
She put the plate on the table
He rang the restaurant to book a table for lunch
View
An examination using the eyes; a look
Used binoculars to get a better view.
Table
A set of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
The population has grown, as shown in table 1
View
Field of vision
The aircraft has disappeared from view.
Table
A flat, typically rectangular, vertical surface; a panel.
View
A scene that can be looked at from a particular position; a vista
The view from the tower.
Table
Present formally for discussion or consideration at a meeting
More than 200 amendments to the bill have already been tabled
View
A way of showing or seeing something, as from a particular position or angle
A side view of the house.
Table
Postpone consideration of
I'd like the issue to be tabled for the next few months
View
An individual and personal perception, judgment, or interpretation; an opinion
In his view, aid to the rebels should be suspended.
Table
Strengthen (a sail) by making a hem at the edge.
View
An aim or intention
The law was written with a view toward safeguarding privacy.
Table
A piece of furniture usually supported by one or more legs and having a flat top surface on which objects can be placed
A dinner table.
A poker table.
View
Consideration or concern
“The pitch of the roof had been calculated with a view to the heavy seasonal rains” (Caroline Alexander).
Table
The objects laid out for a meal on this article of furniture.
View
Expectation or likelihood
The measure has no view of success.
Table
The food and drink served at meals; fare
Kept an excellent table.
View
To look at, examine, or inspect
Viewed the stars through the telescope.
Table
The company of people assembled around a table, as for a meal.
View
To watch (a movie or show, for example) on a screen.
Table
Either of the leaves of a backgammon board.
View
To survey or study mentally; consider
When you view all their suggestions, you have to feel encouraged.
Table
Tables(Obsolete) The game of backgammon.
View
To think of (something) in a particular way; regard
Doesn't view herself as a success.
Viewed their efforts unfavorably.
Table
A plateau or tableland.
View
(physical) Visual perception.
Table
A flat facet cut across the top of a precious stone.
View
The act of seeing or looking at something.
He changed seats to get a complete view of the stage.
Table
A stone or gem cut in this fashion.
View
The range of vision.
If there are any rabbits in this park, they keep carefully out of our view.
Table
The front part of the body of a stringed instrument.
View
Something to look at, such as scenery.
My flat has a view of a junkyard.
The view from a window
Table
The sounding board of a harp.
View
(Internet) An individual viewing of a web page or a video etc. by a user.
Table
(Architecture) A raised horizontal surface or continuous band on an exterior wall; a stringcourse.
View
(obsolete) Appearance; show; aspect.
Table
A part of the human palm framed by four lines, analyzed in palmistry.
View
A picture, drawn or painted; a sketch.
A fine view of Lake George
Table
An orderly arrangement of data, especially one in which the data are arranged in columns and rows in an essentially rectangular form.
View
An opinion, judgement, imagination, idea or belief.
Table
An abbreviated list, as of contents; a synopsis.
View
A mental image.
I need more information to get a better view of the situation.
Table
An engraved slab or tablet bearing an inscription or device.
View
A way of understanding something, an opinion, a theory.
Your view on evolution is based on religious doctrines, not on scientific findings.
Table
(Anatomy) The inner or outer flat layer of bones of the skull separated by the diploe.
View
A point of view.
From my view that is a stupid proposition.
Table
Tables A system of laws or decrees; a code
The tables of Moses.
View
An intention or prospect.
He smuggled a knife into prison with a view to using it as a weapon.
Table
To put or place on a table.
View
A virtual or logical table composed of the result set of a query in relational databases.
Table
To postpone consideration of (a piece of legislation, for example); shelve.
View
The part of a computer program which is visible to the user and can be interacted with
Table
To enter in a list or table; tabulate.
View
A wake. en
Table
Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
View
(transitive) To look at.
The video was viewed by millions of people.
Table
An item of furniture with a flat top surface raised above the ground, usually on one or more legs.
Set that dish on the table over there, please.
View
(transitive) To regard in a stated way.
I view it as a serious breach of trust.
Table
The board or table-like furniture on which a game is played, such as snooker, billiards, or draughts.
View
The act of seeing or beholding; sight; look; survey; examination by the eye; inspection.
Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view.
Objects near our view are thought greater than those of a larger size that are more remote.
Surveying nature with too nice a view.
Table
A flat tray which can be used as a table.
View
Mental survey; intellectual perception or examination; as, a just view of the arguments or facts in a case.
I have with exact view perused thee, Hector.
Table
A supply of food or entertainment.
The baron kept a fine table and often held large banquets.
View
Power of seeing, either physically or mentally; reach or range of sight; extent of prospect.
The walls of Pluto's palace are in view.
Table
A service of Holy Communion.
View
That which is seen or beheld; sight presented to the natural or intellectual eye; scene; prospect; as, the view from a window.
'T is distance lends enchantment to the view.
Table
(backgammon) One half of a backgammon board, which is divided into the inner and outer table.
View
The pictorial representation of a scene; a sketch, either drawn or painted; as, a fine view of Lake George.
Table
A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
View
Mode of looking at anything; manner of apprehension; conception; opinion; judgment; as, to state one's views of the policy which ought to be pursued.
To give a right view of this mistaken part of liberty.
Table
The lineup of players at a given table.
That's the strongest table I've ever seen at a European Poker Tour event
View
That which is looked towards, or kept in sight, as object, aim, intention, purpose, design; as, he did it with a view of escaping.
No man sets himself about anything but upon some view or other which serves him for a reason.
Table
A group of players meeting regularly to play a campaign.
View
Appearance; show; aspect.
[Graces] which, by the splendor of her viewDazzled, before we never knew.
Table
A group of diners at a given table or tables.
Table 9 wants another round of beers.
John always gets the best tips because he gets the best tables! It's not fair!
View
To see; to behold; especially, to look at with attention, or for the purpose of examining; to examine with the eye; to inspect; to explore.
O, let me view his visage, being dead.
Nearer to view his prey, and, unespied,To mark what of their state he more might learn.
Table
A two-dimensional presentation of data.
View
To survey or examine mentally; to consider; as, to view the subject in all its aspects.
The happiest youth, viewing his progress through.
Table
A matrix or grid of data arranged in rows and columns.
View
A way of regarding situations or topics etc.;
Consider what follows from the positivist view
Table
A collection of arithmetic calculations arranged in a table, such as multiplications in a multiplication table.
The children were practising multiplication tables.
Don’t you know your tables?
Here is a table of natural logarithms.
View
The visual percept of a region;
The most desirable feature of the park are the beautiful views
Table
A lookup table, most often a set of vectors.
View
The act of looking or seeing or observing;
He tried to get a better view of it
His survey of the battlefield was limited
Table
(sports) A visual representation of a classification of teams or individuals based on their success over a predetermined period.
View
The range of the eye;
They were soon out of view
Table
(musical instruments) The top of a stringed instrument, particularly a member of the violin family: the side of the instrument against which the strings vibrate.
View
A personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty;
My opinion differs from yours
What are your thoughts on Haiti?
Table
The flat topmost facet of a cut diamond.
View
A message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof;
His opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page
Table
To tabulate; to put into a table or grid.
To table fines
View
Purpose; the phrase `with a view to' means `with the intention of' or `for the purpose of';
He took the computer with a view to pawning it
Table
To supply (a guest, client etc.) with food at a table; to feed.
View
Graphic art consisting of the graphic or photographic representation of a visual percept;
He painted scenes from everyday life
Figure 2 shows photographic and schematic views of the equipment
Table
(obsolete) To delineate; to represent, as in a picture; to depict.
View
The range of interest or activity that can be anticipated;
It is beyond the horizon of present knowledge
Table
(non-US) To put on the table of a commission or legislative assembly; to propose for formal discussion or consideration, to put on the agenda.
View
Outward appearance;
They look the same in outward view
Table
To remove from the agenda, to postpone dealing with; to shelve to indefinitely postpone consideration or discussion of something.
The legislature tabled the amendment, so they will not be discussing it until later.
The motion was tabled, ensuring that it would not be taken up until a later date.
View
Deem to be;
She views this quite differently from me
I consider her to be shallow
I don't see the situation quite as negatively as you do
Table
To join (pieces of timber) together using coaks.
View
Look at carefully; study mentally;
View a problem
Table
To put on a table.
View
See or watch;
View a show on television
This program will be seen all over the world
View an exhibition
Catch a show on Broadway
See a movie
Table
(nautical) To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the bolt-rope.
View
Useful for security and simplifying complex queries.
A view can limit employee access to data outside their department.
Table
A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab.
A bagnio paved with fair tables of marble.
View
Can improve data abstraction and application development.
Views can serve specific data needs without exposing database schema details.
Table
A thin, flat piece of wood, stone, metal, or other material, on which anything is cut, traced, written, or painted; a tablet
And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
And stand there with your tables to gleanThe golden sentences.
Table
Any smooth, flat surface upon which an inscription, a drawing, or the like, may be produced.
The opposite walls are painted by Rubens, which, with that other of the Infanta taking leave of Don Philip, is a most incomparable table.
St. Antony has a table that hangs up to him from a poor peasant.
Table
Hence, in a great variety of applications: A condensed statement which may be comprehended by the eye in a single view; a methodical or systematic synopsis; the presentation of many items or particulars in one group; a scheme; a schedule.
Table
A view of the contents of a work; a statement of the principal topics discussed; an index; a syllabus; a synopsis; as, a table of contents.
Table
An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board, or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in eating, writing, or working.
We may againGive to our tables meat.
The nymph the table spread.
Table
A list of substances and their properties; especially, the a list of the elementary substances with their atomic weights, densities, symbols, etc.
Table
Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare; entertainment; as, to set a good table.
Table
Any collection and arrangement in a condensed form of many particulars or values, for ready reference, as of weights, measures, currency, specific gravities, etc.; also, a series of numbers following some law, and expressing particular values corresponding to certain other numbers on which they depend, and by means of which they are taken out for use in computations; as, tables of logarithms, sines, tangents, squares, cubes, etc.; annuity tables; interest tables; astronomical tables, etc.
Table
The company assembled round a table.
I drink the general joy of the whole table.
Table
The arrangement or disposition of the lines which appear on the inside of the hand.
Mistress of a fairer tableHath not history for fable.
Table
One of the two, external and internal, layers of compact bone, separated by diploë, in the walls of the cranium.
Table
A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is required, so as to make it decorative. See Water table.
Table
The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon and draughts are played.
This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice,That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice.
Table
A circular plate of crown glass.
A circular plate or table of about five feet diameter weighs on an average nine pounds.
Table
The upper flat surface of a diamond or other precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.
Table
A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and perpendicular to the horizon; - called also perspective plane.
Table
The part of a machine tool on which the work rests and is fastened.
Table
To form into a table or catalogue; to tabulate; as, to table fines.
Table
To delineate, as on a table; to represent, as in a picture.
Tabled and pictured in the chambers of meditation.
Table
To supply with food; to feed.
Table
To insert, as one piece of timber into another, by alternate scores or projections from the middle, to prevent slipping; to scarf.
Table
To lay or place on a table, as money.
Table
In parliamentary usage, to lay on the table; to postpone, by a formal vote, the consideration of (a bill, motion, or the like) till called for, or indefinitely.
Table
To enter upon the docket; as, to table charges against some one.
Table
To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the boltrope.
Table
To live at the table of another; to board; to eat.
Table
A set of data arranged in rows and columns;
See table 1
Table
A piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs;
It was a sturdy table
Table
A piece of furniture with tableware for a meal laid out on it;
I reserved a table at my favorite restaurant
Table
Flat tableland with steep edges;
The tribe was relatively safe on the mesa but they had to descend into the valley for water
Table
A company of people assembled at a table for a meal or game;
He entertained the whole table with his witty remarks
Table
Food or meals in general;
She sets a fine table
Room and board
Table
Hold back to a later time;
Let's postpone the exam
Table
The primary means of storing persistent data in relational databases.
User accounts are managed within a user table.
Table
Essential for the physical organization of data.
A sales table might be partitioned by month for performance optimization.
Common Curiosities
Can you update data in a view?
Some views are updatable, depending on the complexity of the SQL query used to create them.
Why use a view instead of a table?
Views can simplify complex queries, improve security by limiting data exposure, and enhance data abstraction.
How does a view affect database performance?
Views can slow down performance if they are based on complex queries, as the database needs to execute these queries upon each access.
Are views stored on the disk?
No, views are not stored on the disk; they dynamically generate data from underlying tables based on their SQL queries.
How can views enhance database security?
Views can restrict user access to specific parts of data, allowing only necessary information to be visible or accessible.
How do you optimize a query involving a view?
Optimizing involves simplifying the view’s SQL, indexing underlying tables, or sometimes materializing the view.
What are the advantages of using tables?
Tables provide a stable, direct, and persistent way to store and manage data.
What happens to a view when the data in the underlying table changes?
The data presented by the view updates dynamically to reflect changes in the underlying tables.
What is needed to create a view in a database?
To create a view, you need CREATE VIEW permissions and a SELECT statement that defines the data to be shown.
What is the primary difference between a table and a view?
A table stores data physically, while a view is a virtual table that represents data from one or more tables.
Can a view contain data from multiple tables?
Yes, views can combine data from multiple tables using JOINs and other SQL operations.
Is it possible to have a view within a view?
Yes, views can be nested, where one view is based on another view.
How do you delete a view?
A view can be deleted using the DROP VIEW SQL command.
Can a view impact the integrity of a database?
A view itself does not impact database integrity but can enforce data integrity through constraints in certain types of views.
What is a materialized view?
A materialized view is a hybrid, where the result set of the view’s query is stored physically, allowing quicker access but requiring manual or automatic refreshing.
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Maham Liaqat
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Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
