This compact guide provides the jump-start Oracle developers need to make the transition from traditional programming to the development of useful Web applications for Oracle8i. Even readers who start out knowing nothing about HTML, PL/SQL, or Oracle's other tools will learn how to create simple Web applications in a matter of days. The book focuses on Oracle8i, but also covers Web development for earlier Oracle versions (Oracle8 and Oracle7). Background: The explosion in the use of the Internet and the Web has resulted in a whole new way of doing business. Developers who only yesterday were using COBOL to write accounts payable systems are now being asked to create a broad range of new Internet-based applications ranging from electronic commerce (e-commerce) Web sites to internal data warehouses to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Unfortunately, the filesystem architectures of most Web systems aren't up to the task. The new breed of Web applications -- which are quickly becoming critical resources that companies need to survive -- demand a platform that provides production-quality tools for content management, application development, and application integration. And current Web techniques are inadequate in many ways. Oracle8i, Oracle's "Internet database," gives Web developers a way to build Web technology on top of a relational database, rather than on a traditional filesystem. With Oracle8i, companies can apply well understood, reliable, production-quality database methodologies to Web content management. Oracle8i also supports a wide variety of application development platforms and tools that are tightly integrated to the core database. Finally, Oracle8i supports technologies that help companies tie their Web-based applications into legacy applications. There is a lot to learn in Oracle8i. Not only does it enhance basic database features, it introduces Java and a variety of Web development tools. Oracle8i provides a soup-to-nuts platform for Web site and Web application development that extends traditional database concepts to Web content. It replaces the traditional filesystem used by most Web servers with a database management system. Many users are intimidated by the vast array of new technologies in Oracle8i. And yet, they are under pressure to use these technologies to build complex Web applications right now. This book gives such users a way to start using Oracle8i immediately to create useful Web applications. It is a concise, easy-to-read guide to the basic technologies developers need to understand in order to build Web applications. Contains: The book describes the following Web development tools:

• PL/SQL-- a structured programming language that combines procedural constructs and standard SQL. It offers such features as cursors, loops, conditional and sequential control statements, exception handlers, records, tables, and constructs for developing modular code (functions, procedures, and packages).

• PL/SQL Toolkit -- a set of PL/SQL packages supplied by Oracle for use in developing Web applications.

• HTML -- an ASCII-based markup language used to create Web pages.

• WebDB -- A software system for building, monitoring, and creating content-driven Web sites; it allows users to use a Web browser to access and store information in the Oracle8i database.

• Oracle Application Server (OAS) -- an extensible Web server that uses plug-in programs called cartridges to allow database-integrated Web systems to be developed in a variety of languages (e.g., PL/SQL, Java, Perl).

• XML -- An emerging standard for creating self-describing documents. It is similar to HTML but allows you to create your own markup tags. XML is expected to be a key technology in electronic commerce systems.

• The book also presents several fully realized sample Web applications that will teach you how to build such applications of your own.

NOTE: Although this book touches on the Java features of Oracle8i, it doesn't cover Java development per se. Switching to Java represents an enormous change for most Oracle developers. This book provides an evolutionary path for readers who want to do useful Oracle8i Web development now, using mostly familiar tools. Additional books will provide Java training for those who have mastered these Web tools and want to take the next step.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 9 Ratings

Outstanding Overview for Beginners - 2000-01-24
Reviewer Rating:
If you're starting to become involved with making your Oracle databases available over the web this is a must read. You can dig out the information presented here from the Oracle manuals and tech sites but ... in just 200 pages the relevant information is collected and organized. Take a weekend to read this book before you start working with the web. You'll learn what pieces are available to you and how they fit together...

Very good beginner's book albeit theoretical in nature. - 2000-05-23
Reviewer Rating:
I have used this book as a handbook reference in teaching advanced Oracle & Relational Database Development. As I metioned, it is a very good theoretical book. I particularly liked Chapters 3 (WebDB), 4 (OAS) & 9 (XML). Should you require more hands on examples & sample usage, however, you will have to look elsewhere.

Great book & resource - 2000-06-10
Reviewer Rating:
This is a fabulous book, clear and well-written. It's simple enough for those without much experience, but also provides enough detail for those who don't need coddling... Definitely, worth the $.

Good introduction to Oracle web development ! - 2000-03-19
Reviewer Rating:
Don't expect too much from the book that covers so many topics on just two hundred pages! First five chapters are dedicated to current Oracle & If you have time you can probably download white papers with better technical information about the topics from Oracle, Technet or related websites. On the other hand this five chapters are good time savers. Last four chapters are much better, covering introduction to PL/SQL and Toolkit (HTF, HTP, OWA_***), two sample web applications (Survey and Discussion Forum) and XML. The best thing about this book is that you'll find out what you don't know, so you can make a list of relevant books that covers the topic in more detail.

Great intro for Oracle Developers, but dated - 2001-08-01
Reviewer Rating:
This book came out in 1999, and it's now late 2001 as I write this.

This publication is a very well written introduction to the spectrum of tools and approaches for using Oracle databases to generate dynamically created web pages - based on 1999 technology. While Oracle has advanced since then, most of this book - especially the PL/SQL web toolkit sections - is still useful. If you're an Oracle developer who's familiar with SQL and PL/SQL, then this book will get you up to speed very quickly (it's only 220 pages - thin by "computer book" standards) on the detail of how the PL/SQL web toolkit is used to combine database data with HTML. If you're an Oracle developer, but you don't know anything about web architecture or HTML, then you'll get a brief yet effective introduction in here of what you need to know.

If you don't know PL/SQL, get Steve Feuerstein's book first called Oracle PL/SQL Programming. Use that to learn PL/SQL. Then, once you're familiar with it, you'll get much, much more out of what's presented in this book.

The section about the PL/SQL web toolkit is very useful, even today.

The overview of WebDB is dated. Oracle's new name for this tool is "Oracle Portal", and while the underlying architecture is the same, and the features taught here still largely apply, there are new features and a completely different interface on the new tool.

The chapter about Oracle Application Server (OAS) is still interesting to read for an overall idea of how web architecture is implemented in Oracle's web server family. But the app server has been updated several times since this book, and has very different screen displays. The basic features are still the same, and the brief review provides helpful insight into where Oracle has been, which isn't too far, fundamentally, from where it is now.

Finally, the XML chapter is not bad for quickly getting a great general introduction of XML and it's capabilities, but be aware that Oracle has GREATLY extended it's XML support since the publication of this book. Nevertheless, I still find this chapter extremely interesting in that it shows the intricacies of what it really takes to generate an XML document, while the newer Oracle XML utilities do much of this work automatically. While the new utilities are good to use, this chapter will give you a bit more insight into the utility of XML and a database, along with a fuller understanding of what is happening, so that you can be more flexible in your use of XML.

There's nothing of substance in this book that addresses Java or Oracle Forms for web use.

So - in summary - it's a little dated for 2001, but still very useful. It's brief and to the point. Very helpful for an Oracle developer who needs to come up to speed quickly on web technologies.

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