- PL/SQL Tutorial
- PL/SQL - Home
- PL/SQL - Overview
- PL/SQL - Environment
- PL/SQL - Basic Syntax
- PL/SQL - Data Types
- PL/SQL - Variables
- PL/SQL - Constants and Literals
- PL/SQL - Operators
- PL/SQL - Conditions
- PL/SQL - Loops
- PL/SQL - Strings
- PL/SQL - Arrays
- PL/SQL - Procedures
- PL/SQL - Functions
- PL/SQL - Cursors
- PL/SQL - Records
- PL/SQL - Exceptions
- PL/SQL - Triggers
- PL/SQL - Packages
- PL/SQL - Collections
- PL/SQL - Transactions
- PL/SQL - Date & Time
- PL/SQL - DBMS Output
- PL/SQL - Object Oriented
- PL/SQL Useful Resources
- PL/SQL - Questions and Answers
- PL/SQL - Quick Guide
- PL/SQL - Useful Resources
- PL/SQL - Discussion
- Selected Reading
- UPSC IAS Exams Notes
- Developer's Best Practices
- Questions and Answers
- Effective Resume Writing
- HR Interview Questions
- Computer Glossary
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PL/SQL - Overview
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 certain 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 the development of 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. In Dynamic SQL, 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.