Actually "case x when bool then y when bool then z else zz end" is the standard compliant way to do oracle's decode
However I do like the "speed" and conciseness of the decode vs case. But as stated in the OP, I hacked this up to use for "work emulation". We use an ERP that uses Oracle 8i and the code base is littered with decodes, so to stop being asked to explain why my code doesn't "look like" the code from the ERP company's coders, I've just caved...
In my own code that doesn't "touch" the database directly (in a spreadsheet "solution" (ick..) or personal utility query) I use case.
Plus it was gobs of fun to write the plperlu script and find out how they set up the Safe container for plperl....
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--Moraven Tollo in Michael A. Stackpole's A Secret Atlas
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