This is part 1 of a series of introductory Oracle PLSQL tutorials demonstrating how you can use it to make your Oracle systems better, faster and smarter.
PL/SQL is Oracle's SQL++ programming language providing structure and flow control extensions to SQL. The name PLSQL is derived from the term "Procedural Language extensions to SQL".
On its own, SQL enables you to specify what you want done but not how it is done. However, you often need more control over how data is retrieved and manipulated and this iwhere PL/SQL comes in.
The procedural capabilities combined with standard SQL in Oracle PL/SQL gives developers far more control of how their SQL statements interact with the database and makes using PL/SQL an excellent alternative to developing applications in other languages such as Java or C or VB.
The language itself is modeled on Ada, so Java/C/C++ programmers will find the syntax rather strange and probably won't like the single"=" being used for comparison, but anyone who's used Pascal or Ada or Modula2 will fell right at home.
PL/SQL is not a pure object-oriented language like Java or Ada, but it does support some obect-oriented features such as classification, polymorphism and, in the later versions, inheritance.
Part 1.1 of this PLSQL tutorial discusses the pros and cons of using PLSQL
Part 2 of this tutorial covers supported data types and explains the differences between them.
Part 4 is all about using Oracle PL/SQL in the real world
Part 5 shows you how to use explicit cursors in Oracle PL/SQL
Part 6 discusses the benefits of using cursor for loops to keep thins simple
In Part 7 you'll learn why PL/SQL procedures should be stored in the Oracle database
Part 8 takes this 1 step further to show how you make things even easier using PL/SQL
Part 9 provides an introdution to the use of collections in PL/SQL
PL/SQL Nested Tables are discussed in part 10
PL/SQL varrays are covered in part 11 of this PLSQL tutorial.
In part 12 we look at PLSQL associative arrays
See Oracle PLSQL tutorial Part 13 for an introduction to multilevel PLSQL collections.
Part 14 shows you how to populate your Oracle PLSQL collections from the database
Why not take advantage of our classroom-based Oracle training courses to extend, enhance and expand your knowledge of PL/SQL? With our partners we offer courses across the country and provide on-site and customised training. See the Oracle training page for details of our scheduled courses or contact us for more information.
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