[CRConrad]

«what is the difference between answering a question and processing data? Aren't they effectively the same?»

I think it influences the mindset of the developer. As you say, “retrieve ... if this, then ... loop”. If you're in a “data processing” mindset, then you'll think of a problem like “Get the total number of car widgets in the warehouse” as fetch a widget row; if it's of type car, add number to total; loop until you've processed every row; there you have your total. If, OTOH, you're in an “asking questions” mindset, you'll go: What was the question again, exactly? Oh yes, get the sum of the number for all the widgets which are of type car widgets. Which is almost exactly the same as SELECT SUM(NUMBER) FROM WIDGET WHERE TYPE = 'CAR';.

Processing data is when you do it (in code); answering questions is when the RDBMS (i.e, its code) does it for you. :-)

(At least that's what I think the difference is _in terms of vvkumar's original question._)