case is faster,
coalesce is new.
http://otn.oracle.com/docs/products/oracle9i/doc_library/901_doc/server.901/a90237/analysis.htm#27503
Performance is the least of my concerns, as obviously in this case it makes little difference. The OpenACS project has changed though, it is no longer just a port of Ad code, it is the whole project, and it supports two databases (so far).
Right now thinking just about 8i works and is the easiest thing to do, but as time goes on it will make life harder by forcing needless conversion to legacy syntax. Surely the less datamodels and queries diverge, the better.
If it's as easy as versioning xql files, great. If not...
