DROP_LANGUAGE(7pg16)

💅 DROP LANGUAGE (7pg16) — or, "how to un-invite a procedural language from the group chat"

Okay bestie, so this one's from the PostgreSQL 16 docs, page DROP LANGUAGE(7) — and it's genuinely the simplest little page, but we're gonna do it right. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

DROP_LANGUAGE — remove a procedural language. Like, yeet it. Gone. No more. 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

DROP [ PROCEDURAL ] LANGUAGE [ IF EXISTS ] name [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

Look at that. Iconic. Lowkey a whole sentence in one line. 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

DROP LANGUAGE removes the definition of a previously registered procedural language. That's the whole vibe. 🧚

But heads up, it's not a free-for-all: you must be a superuser or the owner of the language to use DROP LANGUAGE. No sneaking in. Main character energy only. 👑

⚠️ Note (read this, fr fr): As of PostgreSQL 9.1, most procedural languages have been made into "extensions", and should therefore be removed with DROP EXTENSION, not DROP LANGUAGE. So like... check yourself before you wreck yourself. 😭

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✨ PARAMETERS ✨

• IF EXISTS — do not throw an error if the language does not exist. A notice is issued in this case. It's giving "no drama, just a lil heads up". 🙈
• name — the name of an existing procedural language. Just the name. That's it. That's the whole parameter. 💖
• CASCADE — automatically drop objects that depend on the language (such as functions in the language), and in turn all objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.14). Yeah, it's a chain reaction. Butterfly effect but make it destructive. 🦋🔥
• RESTRICT — refuse to drop the language if any objects depend on it. This is the default. The careful one. The designated driver. 🚗

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

This command removes the procedural language plsample:

DROP LANGUAGE plsample;

Slay. Bye plsample. 💀

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⭐ COMPATIBILITY ⭐

There is no DROP LANGUAGE statement in the SQL standard. So like... we made this one ourselves. Trailblazers. 🔥

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• ALTER LANGUAGE (ALTER_LANGUAGE(7))
• CREATE LANGUAGE (CREATE_LANGUAGE(7))

Go read those next, bestie, iykyk. 📚✨

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Ok that's the whole page, periodt. This lil manual page is from PostgreSQL 16.15, dated 2026, and it's literally called DROP LANGUAGE(7). Mwah. 💋🎀