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.
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 notable facts about PL/SQL:
Features of PL/SQL:
PL/SQL has the following features:
Advantages of PL/SQL:
PL/SQL has the following advantages:
PL/SQL - Environment Setup:
PL/SQL is not a stand-alone programming language; it is a tool within the Oracle programming environment. SQL* Plus is an interactive tool that allows you to type SQL and PL/SQL statements at the command prompt. These commands are then sent to the database for processing. Once the statements are processed, the results are sent back and displayed on screen.
To run PL/SQL programs, you should have Oracle RBDMS Server installed in your machine which will take care of executing SQL commands.
PL/SQL is one of three key programming languages embedded in the Oracle Database, along with SQL itself and Java.
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 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 developing 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. Dynamic SQL is 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.
PL/SQL - Environment Setup:
PL/SQL is not a stand-alone programming language; it is a tool within the Oracle programming environment. SQL* Plus is an interactive tool that allows you to type SQL and PL/SQL statements at the command prompt. These commands are then sent to the database for processing. Once the statements are processed, the results are sent back and displayed on screen.
To run PL/SQL programs, you should have Oracle RBDMS Server installed in your machine which will take care of executing SQL commands.