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In SQL, null or NULL is a special marker used to indicate that a data value does not exist in the database. Introduced by the creator of the relational database model, E. F. Codd , SQL null serves to fulfill the requirement that all true relational database management systems ( RDBMS ) support a representation of "missing information and ...
The CASE expression, for example, enables SQL to perform conditional branching within queries, providing a mechanism to return different values based on evaluated conditions. This logic can be particularly useful for data transformation during retrieval, especially in SELECT statements.
This is an important element of SQL. Statements, which may have a persistent effect on schemata and data, or may control transactions, program flow, connections, sessions, or diagnostics. SQL statements also include the semicolon (";") statement terminator. Though not required on every platform, it is defined as a standard part of the SQL grammar.
Standard SQL uses the same operators as BASIC, while many databases allow != in addition to <> from the standard. SQL follows strict boolean algebra, i.e. doesn't use short-circuit evaluation, which is common to most languages below. E.g. PHP has it, but otherwise it has these same two operators defined as aliases, like many SQL databases.
Conditional operators are widely used and can be useful in certain circumstances to avoid the use of an if statement, either because the extra verbiage would be too lengthy or because the syntactic context does not permit a statement. For example: #define MAX(a, b) (((a)>(b)) ? (a) : (b)) or
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Some database implementations adopted the term upsert (a portmanteau of update and insert) to a database statement, or combination of statements, that inserts a record to a table in a database if the record does not exist or, if the record already exists, updates the existing record.
The EXCEPT ALL operator does not remove duplicates, but if a row appears X times in the first query and Y times in the second, it will appear (,) times in the result set. Notably, the Oracle platform provides a MINUS operator which is functionally equivalent to the SQL standard EXCEPT DISTINCT operator.