What function can be used as an alternative to coalesce to return the first value...

Comprehensive and Detailed Step by Step Explanation:

The case function can be used as an alternative to coalesce to return the first non-null value. While coalesce(field1, field2, field3) will return the first non-null value, case(condition1, value1, condition2, value2, ...) allows more flexibility by evaluating conditions.