Interesting I have definitely used the distinction between null and empty string quite a bit in MSSQL and matches most programming languages.
replyAnother issue that used to exist was Oracle table name were limited to like 12 characters or something so I have seen horrible abbreviated table names to fit in the Oracle limitation even in other DB's due to some systems being able to run on both MSSQL and Oracle even though SQL Server has a 255 char limit for table names.
I'll list what's wrong with Oracle
replyVery interesting (and hopefully cathartic). I never got past "it involves doing business with Oracle".
> Oracle treats empty strings as being NULL.
replyThat is ridiculous. Do not they know the difference between "" and NULL?
I'm pretty sure the historical reasons I mentioned involved creating the software before the SQL standard came out, meaning they were treating NULL as meaning "nothing", instead of meaning "unknown" as the SQL standard requires. But that's as far as I care to go digging into a database system I will never use of my own free will.
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