What happens when you drop a non-managed table in Delta Lake?

When a non-managed table is dropped in Delta Lake, the correct outcome is that the table data is retained on disk. This distinction is crucial; non-managed tables in Delta Lake are created in a way that separates the data storage lifecycle from the table management lifecycle.

When you create a non-managed table, you are essentially telling Delta Lake that you only want it to manage the schema of the table, but not the underlying data. Therefore, when you drop the non-managed table, the operation only removes the metadata associated with the table, allowing the data to still exist on disk. This can be particularly useful when you want to retain the data for other purposes, such as creating new tables or performing different operations, without needing to load the data again.

This explanation highlights the unique characteristics of non-managed tables within Delta Lake, clarifying why the table data persists even after the metadata has been cleared.