PL/SQL MANAGEMENT
PL/SQL is a combination of SQL along with the procedural features of programming languages. It was developed by Oracle Corporation in the early 90's to enhance the capabilities of SQL. PL/SQL is one of three key programming languages embedded in the Oracle Database, along with SQL
itself and Java. This tutorial will give you great understanding on PL/SQL to proceed with Oracle database and other advanced RDBMS concepts.
The PL/SQL programming language was developed by Oracle Corporation in the late 1980s as procedural extension language for SQL and the Oracle relational database. Following are certain notable facts about PL/SQL −
PL/SQL is a completely portable, high-performance transaction-processing
language.
PL/SQL provides a built-in, interpreted and OS independent programming
environment.
PL/SQL can also directly be called from the command-line SQL*Plus interface.
Direct call can also be made from external programming language calls to
database.
PL/SQL's general syntax is based on that of ADA and Pascal programming
language.
Apart from Oracle, PL/SQL is available in TimesTen in-memory
database and IBM DB2.
Features of PL/SQL
PL/SQL has the following features −
PL/SQL is tightly integrated with SQL.
It offers extensive error checking.
It offers numerous data types.
It offers a variety of programming structures.
It supports structured programming through functions and procedures.
It supports object-oriented programming.
It supports the development of web applications and server pages.
Advantages of PL/SQL
PL/SQL has the following advantages −
SQL is the standard database language and PL/SQL is strongly integrated with
SQL. PL/SQL supports both static and dynamic SQL. Static SQL supports DML
operations and transaction control from PL/SQL block. In Dynamic SQL, SQL
allows embedding DDL statements in PL/SQL blocks.
PL/SQL allows sending an entire block of statements to the database at one
time. This reduces network traffic and provides high performance for the
applications.
PL/SQL gives high productivity to programmers as it can query, transform, and
update data in a database.
PL/SQL saves time on design and debugging by strong features, such as
exception handling, encapsulation, data hiding, and object-oriented data types.
Applications written in PL/SQL are fully portable.
PL/SQL provides high security level.
PL/SQL provides access to predefined SQL packages.
PL/SQL provides support for Object-Oriented Programming.
PL/SQL provides support for developing Web Applications and Server Pages.
Building and Managing PL/SQL Program Units
Building with Blocks PL/SQL is a block-structured language; familiarity with blocks is critical to writing good code.
Controlling the Flow of Execution Conditional branching and iterative processing in PL/SQL
Wrap Your Code in a Neat Package Packages are the fundamental building blocks of any high quality PL/SQL-based application
Picking Your Packages Concepts and benefits of PL/SQL packages
Error Management An exploration of error management features in PL/SQL
The Data Dictionary: Make Views Work for You Use several key data dictionary views to analyze and manage your code PL/SQL Datatypes
Working with Strings in PL/SQL PL/SQL offers several different string datatypes for use in your applications
Working with Numbers in PL/SQL Learn about and how to use the different numeric types in PL/SQL.
Working with Dates in PL/SQL Dates are a relatively complex scalar datatype, in both SQL and
PL/SQL
Working with Records A very common and useful composite type, PL/SQL's analogue to a table's
row
Working with Collections PL/SQL's implementation of arrays plays a role in almost every key
performance feature of PL/SQL