All The Techniques to Clone a SQL Table, Fully Explained

Cloning SQL tables can be a helpful technique for creating backups, testing new queries, or simply making a copy of a table for reference.

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In this article, we’ll look at three different methods for cloning SQL tables:

• creating a new table and inserting data;
• shallow cloning;
• and deep cloning!

Creating a New Table and Inserting Data

The most basic method of cloning a SQL table is to create a new table with the same structure as the original table and then insert the data from the original table into the new table. Here’s the basic syntax:

CREATE TABLE new_table_name (
   column1 datatype,
   column2 datatype,
   ...
);

INSERT INTO new_table_name
SELECT * FROM original_table_name;

This method is relatively straightforward, but it does have a few limitations.

• First, it doesn’t copy any indexes or descriptions from the original table;
• Second, it doesn’t copy any data from the original table’s indexes, so if the original table has any index-based constraints (such as a primary key or unique constraints), they won’t be enforced in the new table.

Shallow Cloning