Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 4th Edition | 
 enlarge | Authors: Steven Feuerstein, Bill Pribyl
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $64.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 82509
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1198
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7 x 1.9
ISBN: 0596009771
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.7585
EAN: 9780596009779
ASIN: 0596009771
Publication Date: August 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
If you're doing database application development in the Oracle environment, you're going to have to know PL/SQL, the company's extended query and update language. If you want your programs to exploit the special capabilities of Oracle software, you'll need to know the language well. That's where the third edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming comes into play. It's an absolutely comprehensive reference (as well as a rather extensive tutorial) on PL/SQL, ideally suited to answering your questions about how to perform some programming tasks and reminding you of the characteristics of functions, triggers, and other elements of the database programmer's toolkit. The new edition covers calls to Java methods from within PL/SQL programs, autonomous transactions, object type inheritance, and the new Timestamp and XMLType data types. There's also more information about server internals--the way PL/SQL programs are run--than before, better enabling readers to optimize their code for fast and safe execution.Steven Feuerstein takes care to explain, with prose and example code, the characteristics of PL/SQL elements. In explaining number conversions, for example, he explores Oracle's different ways of formatting numbers, then details the behavior of the to_number function under different conditions (with and without a specified format model, and with National Language Support information attached). It's a helpful approach that will have readers using the index to locate places in which Feuerstein mentions language elements of interest. --David Wall Topics covered: How to use Oracle PL/SQL in all its manifestations through Oracle9i. Fundamentals of program structure (loops, cases, exceptions, etc.) and execution get attention, as do data types, transaction management, triggers, and the object-oriented aspects of the language. There's also coverage of calls to external Java and C programs.
Product Description
For the past ten years, O'Reilly's "Oracle PL/SQL Programming" has been the bestselling book on PL/SQL, Oracle's powerful procedural language. Packed with examples and helpful recommendations, the book has helped everyone--from novices to experienced developers, and from Oracle Forms developers to database administrators--make the most of PL/SQL. The fourth edition is a comprehensive update, adding significant new content and extending coverage to include the very latest Oracle version, Oracle Database 10"g" Release 2. It describes such new features as the PL/SQL optimizing compiler, conditional compilation, compile-time warnings, regular expressions, set operators for nested tables, nonsequential collections in FORALL, the programmer-defined quoting mechanism, the ability to backtrace an exception to a line number, a variety of new built-in packages, and support for IEEE 754 compliant floating-point numbers. The new edition adds brand-new chapters on security (including encryption, row-level security, fine-grained auditing, and application contexts), file, email, and web I/O (including the built-in packages DBMS_OUTPUT, UTL_FILE, UTL_MAIL, UTL_SMTP, and UTL_HTTP) and globalization and localization. Co-authored by the world's foremost PL/SQL authority, Steven Feuerstein, this classic reference provides language syntax, best practices, and extensive code, ranging from simple examples to complete applications--making it a must-have on your road to PL/SQL mastery. A companion web site contains many more examples and additional technical content for enhanced learning.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 82 more reviews...
 #1 PL/SQL Book For A Reason October 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is The Ultimate PL/SQL reference. Although the book isn't written as a reference, it serves as a more useful reference than the Oracle documentation. This book will show you 99% of PL/SQL functionality, and 110% of what you need to know. Steven Feuerstein always manages to write at a level which is not dry like 99% of all tech books out there. What a refreshing perspective he has for PL/SQL.
This book can be used for learning or refreshing on certain PL/SQL topics, but it isn't the best layout for someone new to PL/SQL, who needs that hand holding step by step approach. For now, novices might want to choose another book to learn the ropes, then get this book to serve as their #1 reference after they know the basics.
By the time I got through the first three chapters, I came across PL/SQL and SQL Plus functionality that I consider essential to the role of an Oracle developer, of which about half of my peers do not fully know. 95% of my peers, and their peers would learn multiple things they did not know before simply by reading through the first three chapters. Steven covers the majority of necessary "tribal knowledge" that an Oracle developer just needs to know here, before going into the more functional and applicable details in the rest of the text.
The rest of the book is ordered in a fashion so that you can easily go straight to the functionality that you need to learn, refresh, or learn more about. If I need to brush up on triggers, exception handling, collections, etc., I simply jump to the chapter aptly named for each piece.
The real brilliant part of Steven's writing for these individual sections is that after he covers all of the details of a certain topic, Exception Handling, for instance, he provides well written suggestions on how to really apply this topic in the most appropriate manner, where most books would just leave the topic alone, after covering the "how-to"! After Steven explains all of the ins and outs of exception handling (which he does in a much more thorough fashion than all other documentation), he then goes on to teach you how to actually USE the tool he has explained. The exception handling chapter has sections on "Building an Effective Error Management Architecture" and "Making the Most of PL/SQL Error Management". Instead of just showing his readers "How do I do that?", he shows them How, and then proceeds to pour his expertise into the What, When, and Why of the subject.
The sections explaining each "core" PL/SQL functionality are the most in depth explanations I have seen in any documentation, with code examples for literally every bullet point in the book. The code examples are all in anonymous blocks which can literally be copied and pasted into an IDE. There are also many more code examples not in the book that are available online in a zip file.
Extra kudos to Steven for including sections on xml types and http data manipulation which are highly sought after skills in software development.
My only complaint is that I wish there was a search-able PDF file of the book that came with it, like Oracle Press books have. If there was, I would use it for ALL PL/SQL questions that I usually "Google" for the answer. Even so, buying the book gives you a free 45 day access to safari online so you can search through this book there.
Use this book often as your first PL/SQL reference, along with Feuerstein's PL/SQL Best Practices book, and you will be better equipped than 95% of PL/SQL developers out there.
If you are responsible for PL/SQL coding, this book needs to be on your desk. Period.
 Impossibly long yet incomplete April 17, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book so incredibly long that it is impossible to use to actually learn PL/SQL. Each of its numerous long chapters is so focused on a small, isolated sub-topic of PL/SQL that it spends over 500 pages just to cover the basics of PL/SQL. At that point, 500 pages into the book it says, "by now you have mastered the basics of PL/SQL" and begins a series of long chapters on small, isolated advanced sub-topics.
Worst of all, the book does not cover or even mention the essential, crucially important "Windows Functions" added to the ISO SQL standard in 2003.
I recommend instead buying "Sql Cookbook" by Anthony Molinaro in preference to this book. The former is direct and to the point. The latter is so convoluted and stretched out that it's useless for a busy professional who does not have unlimited time to spend hundreds of hours reading a 1,100 page book. Granted that "Sql Cookbook" does not cover PL/SQL, but at least it teaches you something you can use on the job immediately.
MASSIVELY informative... yet surprisingly easy to read for beginners & intermediates March 11, 2008
I've worked with Oracle and PL/SQL on and off for ages. I never really took a dive into the details of anything until recently. I knew the basics of PL/SQL blocks, writing procedures/functions and some of the "advanced" column/data types and interactions with them(XML with XPath, for example).
Being a professional software engineer for some time now and working with Oracle regularly has lead me down a path of basic knowledge. This book took that knowledge and pushed the boundaries further than I could have imagined. Great detail, simple/concise/powerful examples and explanations coupled with the author's ability to write with humor make this a wonderful read from beginner to intermediate.
Advanced users/developers may find it useful merely as a reference, however. It is something that will surely be worn out as time goes on.
The PL/SQL Standard November 30, 2007
As with the three previous editions, all of which I own, this book sets the standard for PL/SQL texts. Crammed with information, it provides a thorough and insightful reference and always has a place on my desk.
If you program in PL/SQL, then you need this book. October 1, 2007
It is clear, concise, and as far as I can tell, correct. The writing is friendly, and the examples useful. I learned far more about PL/SQL from this book than from the Oracle documentation. I recently heard the author speak at a conference, and his good personality is reflected in the book.
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