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PL/SQL is Oracle's procedural language extension to SQL, the industry standard for enterprise-level database interaction. PL/SQL has seen many different versions and supports development both server-side in the database and client-side in application code. Very powerful by itself, Oracle may even be web-enabled by using the 9iAS (Internet Application Server) PL/SQL gateway, thus allowing you to build dynamic, data-driven HTML pages that access an Oracle database. But let's begin with a short glossary of Oracle-related terms:
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standardized relational database querying language you may have encountered/worked with elsewhere (in MS Access, to name one).PL/SQL - Procedural Language extension to SQL. The "PL" in PL/SQL is short for Procedural Language. It is an extension to SQL that allows you to create PL/SQL programs that contain standard programming features such as error handling, flow-of-control structures, and variables, all allowing you to manipulate Oracle data. By itself, SQL does not support these concepts.SQL*Plus - the ubiquitous command line user interface for all implementations of the Oracle database. It is a client-server application that enables users to enter and execute SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks and to run predefined SQL*Plus script files.SQL*Plus script files can contain DDL, SQL, PL/SQL or even SQL*Plus commands.Java support, why bother with PL/SQL at all? Because, as Tony Ziemba says, it is "still the best way to build programs to access data in Oracle7 and Oracle8 databases." Or as Steven Feuerstein says, "Oracle developers who want to be successful ... must learn to use PL/SQL to full advantage." And as Steven also says, "Who knows? It might even outlive Java!"PL/SQL seems to be learning. And re-learning. And learning again. That's why such a great part of this article, as you will see, is dedicated to Further Reading.PL/SQL without the additional overhead typically required in other programming environments. There is no ODBC interface, and no embedding is required for use of Oracle database manipulation with PL/SQL.PL/SQL offers. In it, the developer can handle certain types of predefined exceptions without explicitly coding error-handling routines. The developer can also associate user-defined exceptions with standard Oracle errors, thereby eliminating the coding of an error check in the executable section. The handling of errors in PL/SQL is arguably the best contribution PL/SQL makes to commercial programming. Errors in PL/SQL need not be trapped and handled with if statements directly within the program, as they are in other procedural languages like C. Instead, PL/SQL allows the developer to raise exceptions when an error condition is identified and switch control to a special program area in the PL/SQL block, called the exception handler. The code to handle an error does not clutter the executable program logic in PL/SQL, nor is the programmer required to terminate programs with return or exit statements.SQL statements into PL/SQL, because SQL is an extension of PL/SQL.PL/SQL programming should make you worth 6 digits, or so they say...)PL/SQL works and write appropriate code.SQL than in PL/SQL, so move the processing to the SQL layer whenever possible.PL/SQL. If you're like me, you've read dozens of them, only to put them back on the shelf never (or rarely) to take them in your hands again. There are three very special ones, however, that I actually bought because, at different stages of my oh-so-slowly growing expertise, I just couldn't do without them:
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.PL/SQL provides a robust security system and breaks down how the encryption features work together to keep sensitive information in users' databases secure.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.
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
PL/SQL and developing robust applications for Oracle, quickly empowering you to create your own Oracle solutions with PL/SQL.PL/SQL, and ending with in-depth discussions of the more commonly used advanced features of Oracle's database programming environment.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.
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).
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.PL/SQL experts.PL/SQL developer's bible). It's pretty handy and condensates much of Feuerstein's experience with PL/SQL.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.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).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.
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