Drop a temporary table if it exists

Check 'n drop in older SQL Server versions

If you're dealing with SQL Server versions prior to 2016, you need to use the OBJECT_ID function to check if the table exists:

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#YourTempTable') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE #YourTempTable; -- Sayonara, #YourTempTable!
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This ensures that no errors are thrown when attempting to drop a non-existent table.

Usain Bolt style: efficient table operations

Clean slate: Truncating instead of dropping

The TRUNCATE TABLE lets you quickly remove all records from an existing table, while keeping the table's structure:

TRUNCATE TABLE YourTable; -- It's not you, it's your data.
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It's like hiring a cleaning crew for your house – they'll get rid of the junk while leaving the structure intact.

Existence check before creation

Need to ensure a table doesn't exist before creating it? Simply use:

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#YourTempTable') IS NULL
    CREATE TABLE #YourTempTable (Column1 INT, Column2 VARCHAR(50)); -- Birth of a (temp) table!


Dealing with multiple tables

More tables to handle? No worries. Just perform the check and drop operation for each:

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#FirstTempTable') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE #FirstTempTable; -- Bye, #FirstTempTable!

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#SecondTempTable') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE #SecondTempTable; -- Later, #SecondTempTable!
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Abstracting the process with procedures

Encapsulating your check and drop logic within a stored procedure lets you reuse code efficiently:

CREATE PROCEDURE DropAndRecreateTempTable
AS
BEGIN
    IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#YourTempTable') IS NOT NULL
        DROP TABLE #YourTempTable; -- Bye for now, #YourTempTable!
    CREATE TABLE #YourTempTable (Column1 INT, Column2 VARCHAR(50)); -- Welcome back, #YourTempTable!
END;
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Nitty gritty details to consider

Context matters

Your approach to manipulating a table should fit your needs. Truncate the table if you just need to remove data rows, drop and create if you frequently alter the table schema.

Operations sequencing

Maintain the right precedence of your table operations to uphold data integrity, especially when your script includes other data manipulative operations.

Performance implications

When you're working in a high transaction system, remember that dropping and recreating tables might impact performance. So, act wisely.

Handling global temporary tables

For global temporary tables, specify their scope using ## and double-check their existence in tempdb:

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..##GlobalTempTable') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE ##GlobalTempTable; -- See you around, ##GlobalTempTable!


Remember, these tables are accessible across multiple sessions – causing potential headaches if not handled properly!