What is the usage of recursive functions in Oracle?

2 years ago
Olivia Parker
1 minute

In Oracle, creating a recursive function can be achieved by following these steps:

  1. Firstly, create a function with a return type and parameters defined based on specific requirements.
  2. Use conditional statements (such as IF or CASE statements) within the function body to determine the termination condition for recursion. Return the final result when the termination condition is met.
  3. If the termination condition is not met, the function calls itself and passes the updated parameters. This process continues until the termination condition is met.
  4. Finally, return the result of the recursive function.

Here is a basic example demonstrating how to create a recursive function in Oracle to calculate the nth number in the Fibonacci sequence.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION fibonacci(n IN NUMBER) RETURN NUMBER IS
BEGIN
  IF n = 0 THEN
    RETURN 0;
  ELSIF n = 1 THEN
    RETURN 1;
  ELSE
    RETURN fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2);
  END IF;
END;
/

By calling the Fibonacci function and passing an integer parameter, you can calculate the nth number in the Fibonacci sequence.

bannerAds