PL/SQL, Oracle's programming language for stored procedures, delivers a world of possibilities for your database programs. PL/SQL supplements the standard relational database language, SQL, with a wide range of procedural features, including loops, IF-THEN statements, advanced data structures, and rich transactional control--all closely integrated with the Oracle database server. Knowing where to start with Oracle's procedural language is not always obvious to a newcomer, especially considering the language's feature set and the sheer size of the official documentation (not to mention Oracle's ever-increasing number of pre-built PL/SQL programs). But Learning Oracle PL/SQL offers the signposts and guidance you need to come up to speed on the language, delivered in a manageable number of pages while covering all the essentials. Topics include:

• PL/SQL--what is it, and why use it? Why use PL/SQL instead of Java?

• Syntax and examples of all core language constructs

• Creating, using, and reusing stored procedures, functions, and packages

• Building web-based applications using PL/SQL features available "out of the box" (such as PL/SQL Server Pages)

• Securing PL/SQL programs against attack

• Benefits of third-party developer tools and integrated development environments

• Connecting PL/SQL to email, Java, and the Internet

Meticulously crafted with all-new examples downloadable from examples.oreilly.com/learnoracle, the book addresses language features available in all versions of Oracle, from Oracle7 to Oracle8i to Oracle9i. Learning Oracle PL/SQL was written by PL/SQL experts Bill Pribyl and Steven Feuerstein, whose easy-to-read style and attention to detail has made other O'Reilly books (such as the bestselling Oracle PL/SQL Programming) very popular among Oracle developers worldwide. Learning Oracle PL/SQL is meant for a wide range of target audiences, including both beginning programmers and those already experienced with other programming languages. Whether you are a new developer, a crossover programmer from another database system, or a new database administrator who needs to learn PL/SQL, this book will get you well on your way. It is the perfect introduction to Oracle PL/SQL Programming, also by Pribyl and Feuerstein.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 13 Ratings

Learning Oracle Maybe, But Not PL/SQL - 2003-09-13
Reviewer Rating:
I've been developing with Sybase and SQL Server for about 5 years with very limited experience with Oracle in that time. I purchased this book hoping to get up to speed on the differences between Oracle's PL/SQL and the Sybase/Microsoft T-SQL syntax. From the title this book seemed appropriate for the job. In short, while the book might be an adequate, albeit SLOW, introduction to Oracle, it covers very little actual PL/SQL.

If you are a programer/engineer/dba looking to "learn Oracle PL/SQL", interested in practical applications of such fundamental topics as constraints, foreign keys, indexes, joins, cursors, views, triggers, corelated subqueries and the like, look elsewhere. Don't take my word for it--take a peek at the index or table of contents and you'll see that the focus of this book has very little to do with PL/SQL.

Not learning anything - 2006-05-23
Reviewer Rating:
This book is erroneously named. There's barely anything about PL/SQL. It's just a hodge-podge on oracle database server and oracle application server with minimum coverage on both.

PL/SQL is an Oracle proprietary language that is available in a variety of Oracle products, and is somewhat different and differently used in each Oracle product. If you want to learn Oracle database server PL/SQL get books by Alice Rischert or Scott Urman because their coverage of PL/SQL is well explained and in depth.

Overall very good - 2003-07-15
Reviewer Rating:
I've only read three chapters so far. It's been very good actually - I knew some SQL beforehand, although nothing very complicated, and it has been pretty easy for me to understand as well as very helpful for me in learning how to use PL/SQL. It has genuinely useful examples, and also provides tips as to how to perform unit testing on stored procedures and functions.

Another very useful thing the author does is list common and not-as-common mistakes that a programmer may make (which may not always result in errors or exceptions), hence possibly saving you the trouble of hours of debugging.

The only problem I've had with it is that he doesn't treat foreign keys as constraints. One of his sample column declarations is: "isbn VARCHAR2(100) FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES books (isbn)", but I kept getting an error until I changed it to: "isbn VARCHAR2(100), FOREIGN KEY (isbn) REFERENCES books (isbn)". I am not sure if this is a peculiarity of my installation (running Oracle 9i), but a check online reveals that many people also consider foreign keys a constraint.

Except for that problem, I would have given this book 5 stars.

Fair Guide for Learning PL/SQL - 2003-04-23
Reviewer Rating:
I use a self-taught approach to learn new things like most people. And, like most people, I get frustrated with the lengthy superfluous nature of how-to books which throw everything in, including the kitchen sink. This book starts off well, and you can learn from it at a comfortably progressive pace, but it could use a larger scope. The author leaves a lot of code out of the book, though he does explain parts of it. In the end, the project he uses to illustrate PL/SQL becomes more complicated than it needs to be for a tutorial exercise. Still, I haven't seen anything better.

Maybe use as reference with another book... - 2009-09-03
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book, used, a couple of weeks ago since I needed a resource to learn Oracle... I wish the book would have started with Oracle commands instead of the PL/SQL aspect but I was not totally bothered with this...

If this is the same version, that I have, there are numerous errors (or I believe them to be). For example, on page 160, there is an example of PL/SQL code using a cursor. I understand what they are trying to do but... The second line declares the variable favorite_play_title VARCHAR2(??); - is this legal? I thought VARCHAR2 needs a finite number. On the third line after the BEGIN statement, the statement FETCH bkcur INTO favorite_play_title, publication_date; is fine except he never defines bkcurs in the code (but looking a few pages back he has a script which it is defined - page 152)... It is not stated that the variable bkcur is automatically defined and initialized by the FETCH command (I found this out in another Oracle PL/SQL book that I own) which really confused me.

There are numerous examples like this that make the book hard to follow... There is not much description on the code that they wrote and it one types it in manually, they will be sure to run into the problems... And if you, download the samples online, good luck since they are bits and pieces of code some of which is missing the data so you really will struggle following the book...

I am not against the authors... When you are learning a programming language, software tools, and ... you will need to have the ability to put your resource into practice. If a book is not written, organized well or has examples that do not help the user to understand, missing data and/or have errors, it makes it harder for the user to pick up concepts however simple or complex they may be... If a person is going to spend good money, they deserve a good book...

The Oracle press series is a much better resource for learning Oracle. I have 2 of the books on order...

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