Simulating SQL While Loop with Recursive CTE

In SQL, there is no structure like the while loop statement in other programming languages. However, you can simulate the functionality of a while loop using recursive queries. This can be achieved by using the WITH clause and recursive queries. Here is a simple example demonstrating how to simulate a while loop using recursive queries:

WITH RECURSIVE my_recursive_cte AS (
    SELECT 1 AS i
    UNION ALL
    SELECT i + 1
    FROM my_recursive_cte
    WHERE i < 10
)
SELECT *
FROM my_recursive_cte;

In this example, we use a recursive query to generate a sequence of numbers from 1 to 10. We start by defining a recursive common table expression (CTE) with an initial value of 1. Then, in each recursive step, we increment the current value by 1 and set a limit condition of i being less than 10. By querying this recursive CTE, we obtain the integer sequence from 1 to 10.

In general, while SQL does not have a built-in while loop statement, it is possible to simulate similar functionality using recursive queries.