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.