Cursor verus while loop - what are the advantages/disadvantages of cursors?

Question

Is it a good idea to use while loop instead of a cursor?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of cursors?

Answer 1

Some of these depends on the DBMS, but generally:

Pros:

• Outperform loops when it comes to row-by-row processing

• Works reasonably well with large datasets

Cons:

• Don't scale as well

• Use more server resources

• Increases load on tempdb

• Can cause leaks if used incorrectly (eg. Open without corresponding Close)