Execute passes a string of SQL statements to the database to be executed.  The string can contain multiple statements and generate multiple return values.

Execute returns the return value of the first statement.  The return values of subsequent statements are accessible through the NextResult command.

If a statement is an update, then the return value is an integer representing the update count.  If a statement is a query, then the return value is a Result module representing the table of values.

Not all Java Database Connectivity [JDBC] Drivers can handle multiple SQL statements in a single string.  In this case, the behavior of Execute with multiple statements is undefined.

If only a single SQL statement is being executed, using ExecuteUpdate or ExecuteQuery may be more convenient.  However, if a large number of such statements are executed, Execute is more efficient.