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Databases Intermediate

What is Cursor?

A database object that enables row-by-row processing of query results, useful for operations that cannot be done in bulk.

Cursors provide a way to iterate over query results one row at a time, rather than fetching everything at once. They are useful when processing each row requires complex logic or when result sets are too large for memory.

However, cursors are generally slower than set-based operations. Most SQL operations should use standard SELECT/UPDATE/DELETE statements. Cursors are mainly useful in stored procedures and migration scripts that need row-level processing.

Related Terms

Row-Level Security (RLS)
A database feature that restricts which rows a user can access in a table based on security policies.
Prepared Statement
A pre-compiled SQL template that uses parameters instead of literal values, preventing SQL injection and improving performance.
MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control)
A technique where the database maintains multiple versions of data to allow concurrent reads and writes without locking.
Window Function
An SQL function that performs calculations across a set of rows related to the current row without collapsing the result set.
Normalization
The process of organizing database tables to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity.
Connection String
A formatted string containing all parameters needed to establish a connection to a database server.
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