CASE Statement vs CASE Expression
CASE Statement |
CASE Expression |
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CASE Statement is used to handle flow control within procedural code and it determines which code block to execute based on specified conditions. |
CASE Expression in SQL is used for transforming or selecting values within a query and returning different results based on conditions. |
It is limited to PL/SQL blocks such as procedures, functions, and blocks. |
It is primarily used within SQL statements like SELECT, WHERE, and ORDER BY clauses. |
It supports both Simple CASE and Searched CASE. |
It only supports Searched CASE. |
It supports ELSE clause for defining a default action. |
It also supports ELSE clause for defining a default action. |
PL/SQL CASE Statement
PL/SQL stands for Procedural Language Extension to the Structured Query Language and it is designed specifically for Oracle databases it extends Structured Query Language (SQL) capabilities by allowing the creation of stored procedures, functions, and triggers. It is a block-structured language that combines SQL with the procedural features of programming languages.
In this article, we explore the CASE statement in PL/SQL. It is one of the most powerful conditional logic statements in Oracle databases. We look at the syntax, and types and compare them to the CASE expression. You can use this information to make better decisions and improve your ability to use conditional logic in Oracle PL/SQL.