An easy-paced introductory course covering
SQL and PL/SQL and offering readers a chance to understand not only how to use PL/SQL but also why to use each of the features.Allen illustrates how
PL/SQL provides a robust security system and breaks down how the encryption features work together to keep sensitive information in users' databases secure.Simple and easy to follow, it explains how to write powerful, flexible programs, and to automate a multitude of database tasks.
The only official Oracle entry-level book on the topic, it methodically steps through every important feature of
SQL and PL/SQL, quickly moving into more complex areas. The last two chapters cover procedures, packages, triggers... all the core programming tools in PL/SQL.
- Contents
- Part I: Dabase Basics.
- Chapter 1: Introduction to Databases.
- Chapter 2: Storing and Retrieving Data: The Basics.
- Chapter 3: Advanced Data Manipulation.
- Chapter 4: Controlling SQL Plus.
- Part II: Advanced SQL.
- Chapter 5: SQL Functions.
- Chapter 6: Using Indexes and Constraints.
- Chapter 7: Other Useful Oracle Techniques.
- Part III: Creating Programs Using PL/SQL.
- Chapter 8: Introduction to PL/SQL.
- Chapter 9: More PL/SQL Tools.
- Part IV: Appendix.
Written with a dash of humor, it doesn't waste your time by making jokes, but always manages to say first things first, allowing you to move on to study the next chunk of information. The author always explains why you should master 'this' before you do 'that'.
I would recommend it not only to beginners, but to those that are just refreshing their forgotten skills as well.
Here's what the back cover says:
Learn to use SQL and PL/SQL in your Oracle database. Get step-by-step details on performing database tasks quickly and easily. Oracle PL/SQL 101 explains how to use SQL to work with data in a database, and how to automate complicated tasks using PL/SQL. You’ll learn by doing—each chapter contains hands-on exercises designed to teach the concepts presented. This easy-to-follow book starts with database basics and then teaches how to store, retrieve, and manipulate data, control SQL*Plus, create and use SQL functions, and write PL/SQL programs.Good next steps after this book might be Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices for true programming nerds, or one of the Oracle Press exam guides for those wanting to get certified.Written by an Oracle Certified Professional and authorized by Oracle Corporation, this hands-on resource shows you everything you need to know to get started working with SQL and PL/SQL.
- Understand the key components of a database—tables, rows, records, columns, and fields
- Create database tables, indexes, and constraints
- Write SQL commands to insert, select, update, and delete data
- Perform advanced data manipulation
- Write complete PL/SQL functions and procedures
- Declare variables using anchored types
- Create PL/SQL packages
- Use triggers to enforce complex business rules and security measures
- 544 pages
- List Price: $39.99, but online stores such as this one
generally sell it for less than $30.
Sams Teach Yourself PL/SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition, leads you step-by-step to a solid understanding of
PL/SQL and developing robust applications for Oracle, quickly empowering you to create your own Oracle solutions with PL/SQL.Completely revised, the book provides guidance and direction, leading you through a progression of topics that begin with the basic building blocks of
PL/SQL, and ending with in-depth discussions of the more commonly used advanced features of Oracle's database programming environment.New topics include extended dynamic
SQL within PL/SQL, Dynamic SQL within PL/SQL, use of invoker's rights, autonomous transactions, interfacing PL/SQL with Java, PL/SQL Bulk Binds, parameter passing by reference, and advanced Querying.
- Table of Contents
- Week 1: At a Glance
- Learning the Basics of PL/SQL
- Writing Declarations and Blocks
- Writing PL/SQL Expressions
- Using Functions, IF Statements, and Loops
- Implementing Loops and GOTOs
- Using Oracle's Built-In Functions
- Procedures, Packages, Errors, and Exceptions
- In Review
- Week 2: At a Glance
- Using SQL
- Manipulating Data with Cursors
- Collections
- Writing Database Triggers
- Using Oracle8i Objects for Object-Oriented Programming
- Debugging Your Code and Preventing Errors
- Leveraging Large Object Types
- In Review
- Week 3: At a Glance
- Managing Transactions and Locks
- Generating Dynamic SQL
- Writing to Files and the Display
- Managing Database Jobs
- Alerting and Communicating with Other Procedures: The DBMS-ALERT and DBMS_PIPE
- Packages
- PL/SQL and Java
- Advanced Queuing
This book sets out to thoroughly teach every aspect of SQL*Plus and to do so in a way that can be used as a tutorial or as a problem- solving 'how-to' type book. This is a very ambitious goal, but one that is largely achieved. One of the strengths of the book is that it organised such that each chapter aims to present a solution to a real-world problem. For example, one chapter is devoted to extracting and loading data, while another covers report generation.
Workarounds for some of the limitations of SQL*Plus are presented in the chapter on advanced scripting, including, for example, six different ways of achieving branching within a script (even if one of them is to use shell script).
- 692 pp.
- Retail Price: $39.99, but - again - it should cost under $30 in online stores such as alphacraze
(when they get it, of course: it appears to be permanently on backorder ;) .
Well, now you are a
PL/SQL powerhouse, but to be competitive on the market you need a little more than plain PL/SQL. A little added value, as they say. Well, this book gives you some added value and then some.The first point to note is that it's published by O'Reilly. The second point would be that it's written by Steven Feuerstein.
O'Reilly know how to publish a good technical book. They focus on telling you what you need to know and how it does, should or, indeed, does not work.
Steven Feuerstein is generally regarded to be one of the world's leading
PL/SQL experts.This book is an ideal companion to his bestselling books, particularly to Oracle PL/SQL Programming (considered by many the
PL/SQL developer's bible). It's pretty handy and condensates much of Feuerstein's experience with PL/SQL.While there are a number of tools that help you tune the
SQL side of your application, PL/SQL tuning has been largely ignored - and it is largely up to the individual programmer to make it happen. It is crucial to know how to take advantage of high performance PL/SQL features such as bulk array processing in dynamic SQL and data caching in packages. Topics such as effective use of data structures, analysis and optimization of SGA memory management, elapsed time computation, code profiling capabilities, etc., should not be dealt with lightly.It is really, really hard to tune
PL/SQL code because it is not a structured language, in the same sense as SQL. Most PL/SQL programs consist of algorithms (formulas you devise to solve a problem).There are many different ways to write "correct" algorithms (they do the right thing or return the right answer), but many of those algorithms will perform poorly.
The book summarizes approximately 120 Oracle
PL/SQL best practices in nine major categories: PL/SQL program development, coding style, Oracle data structures, cot structures, exception handling, writing SQL in Oracle PL/SQL, program construction, package construction, and built-in packages.The book comes with a pull-out quick-reference card that lists all the best practices covered in the book. Code examples demonstrating many of the best practices are also available at the O'Reilly web site.
If you've ever thought about pursuing a database administration job, looked through a few books about Oracle and been scared off, you're definitely not alone. Database manipulation can be (and usually is) quite complex especially for the beginner, and most, if not all of the Oracle books out there make the enormity of the task you're trying to achieve quite obvious by dropping you in the deep end.
As with all things, a solid basic understanding is what you need to begin if you hope to get anywhere and this book provides just that. No wonder that we've taken the tips for our Tips'n'Tricks section (see above) directly from the pages of this great Oracle manual...
- 202 pages
- List Price: $19.95, but you'll easily find it for $15 or less over yonder at www.alphacraze.com.
Currently on backorder, they tell me.
