Hi All,
This question is asked in the interviews, I know the major and many differences between these two, basically, SQL*Loader loads data into the given table from a Flat file, whereas External Table allows reading data from a Flat file in a Database environment.
For my many requirements, I used SQL*Loader, as the feed file will be archived after loading on a weekly basis, next week we will get a new feed and get processed, so for this requirement, this suits better. Also, SQL*Loader is more robust, gives various options, which we don't find in the External table, I can quote many examples.
But, they are expecting some key differences, which I'm missing, could you please share your thoughts on this? Thank you.