Expert PL/SQL Practices is a book of collected wisdom on PL/SQL programming from some of the best and the brightest in the field. Each chapter is a deep-dive into a specific problem, technology, or feature set that you’ll face as a PL/SQL programmer. Each author has chosen their topic out of the strong belief that what they share can make a positive difference in the quality and scalability of code that you write.

The path to mastery begins with syntax and the mechanics of writing statements to make things happen. If you’ve reached that point with PL/SQL, then let the authors of Expert PL/SQL Practices show you how to combine syntax and mechanics with features and techniques to really make the language sing. You’ll learn to do more with less effort, to write code that scales and performs well, and to eliminate and avoid defects.

These authors are passionate about PL/SQL and the power it places at your disposal. They want you to succeed, to know all that PL/SQL can offer. Let Expert PL/SQL Practices open your eyes to the full power of Oracle’s world-class language for the database engine.

• Goes beyond the manual to cover good techniques and best practices
• Delivers knowledge usually gained only by hard experience
• Covers the functionality that distinguishes PL/SQL as a powerful and scalable programming language for deploying logic inside the database engine

What you’ll learn

• Learn when PL/SQL is best used, and when to avoid it
• Move data efficiently using bulk SQL operations
• Write code that scales through pipelining, parallelism, and profiling
• Choose the right PL/SQL cursor type for any given application
• Reduce coding errors through sound development practices such as unit-testing
• Create and execute SQL and PL/SQL dynamically at runtime

Who this book is for

Expert PL/SQL Practices is for PL/SQL developers who want to develop deep expertise in key aspects of the language and its use in database programming. Any developer writing code against Oracle’s class-leading database engine will find value from the collected wisdom in this book. Some knowledge of PL/SQL is assumed. Readers should at least be past the beginning stage with the language.

Table of Contents

1. Do Not Use
2. Dynamic SQL: Handling the Unknown
3. PL/SQL and Parallel Processing
4. Warnings and Conditional Compilation 
5. PL/SQL Unit Testing
6. Bulk SQL Operations
7. Know Your Code 
8. Contract-Oriented Programming
9. PL/SQL from SQL
10. Choosing the Right Cursor
11. PL/SQL Programming in the Large
12. Evolutionary Data Modeling
13. Profiling for Performance
14. Coding Conventions and Error Handling
15. Dependencies and Invalidations