Track · 3:53 · Liner note
The Soft Delete
A soft delete marks a record as deleted, typically with a flag or timestamp, instead of physically removing it, so it can be restored, audited or excluded from queries.
Nothing is ever really removed, only marked. A soft delete sets a flag or a timestamp and leaves the row in place, which is handy for undo, audit trails and references from other tables. The cost is that every query now has to remember the flag.
The Soft Delete is a trade worth making deliberately. Hide the filter behind a view so nobody forgets it, index the flag if it is selective, and decide when old marked rows are finally purged. Privacy rules often require that last step, so a soft delete should never be the final word.