What This Book Covers

The book consists of 17 chapters covering a wide range of topics. The following sections present chapter-by-chapter breakdowns.

Chapter 1: Performance Toolkit

The very first chapter introduces you to the various performance tools you'll use throughout the book. These include tools such as tkprof that come bundled with Oracle, as well as tools I wrote in Java for your convenience. This is a reference chapter that I recommend you revisit whenever you need to refresh your memory about a tool used elsewhere in the book.

Chapter 2: Oracle Fundamentals

This chapter explores some of the fundamental architectural features of Oracle that you as a developer should know. You'll be introduced to topics such as multiversioning read consistency, the locking mechanism used by Oracle, shared pool, latches, undo, redo, and so on, with illustrative examples. I also provide performance guidelines applicable in general when developing an application. I recommend that you read this chapter before you read any other remaining chapters in this book.