SQL: Use COALESCE to Replace NULL Values Inline

Don’t use CASE WHEN for simple NULL checks. COALESCE is cleaner.

Verbose Way:

SELECT 
    CASE 
        WHEN Name IS NULL THEN 'Unknown' 
        ELSE Name 
    END AS Name
FROM Users;

Clean Way:

SELECT COALESCE(Name, 'Unknown') AS Name
FROM Users;

Multiple Fallbacks:

SELECT COALESCE(MobilePhone, WorkPhone, HomePhone, 'No phone') AS Phone
FROM Users;

Returns first non-NULL value.

SQL Tables Age Worse Than Code

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