title: In SQL syntax, is 'from' in 'delete from' optional if you plan to use 'where'?
body: <p>I am new to SQL. We have some code that should work on SQL Server 2005/2008, Oracle 10 as well as Sybase.</p>
  
  <p>I was writing a script to try to figure out which tables a given stored procedure modifies (but does not drop), e.g <code>insert</code>, <code>update</code> and <code>delete</code>.</p>
  
  <p>The <code>delete</code> one turned out being puzzling - sometimes I see statements like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>delete phone_book where ... 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>as opposed to:</p>
  
  <pre><code>delete from phone_book where ...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So ... is the <code>from</code> keyword truly optional in this case? Does this cause any problems? Is it just a bad style, or does it not matter?</p>
  
  <p>I have not found a reference to <code>T-SQL</code> that would make <code>from</code> optional. I suppose that this is what would unify all 3 vendors I mentioned above. </p>
  
  <p>Questions/comments/links are welcomed (or is it welcome?).</p>