How to avoid the “divide by zero” error in SQL?

Question

I have this error message:

Msg 8134, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Divide by zero error encountered.

What is the best way to write SQL code so that I will never see this error message again?

I could do either of the following:

• Add a where clause so that my divisor is never zero

Or

• I could add a case statement so that there is a special treatment for zero.

Is the best way to use a NULLIF clause?

Is there a better way, or how can this be enforced?

Answer 1

To avoid "Division by zero" error you should use the following code:

SELECT Case 

WHEN divisor=0 then null

ELSE dividend/divisor

End …

Or else to make it easier you can use this code given below:

SELECT dividend /NULLIF(divisor, 0) ...

Now, the only challenge is to remember the NULLIF bit, when you use the "/" key.