Overview of PL/SQL

This chapter introduces the main features of the PL/SQL language. It shows how PL/SQL meets the challenges of database programming, and how you can reuse techniques that you know from other programming languages. This chapter contains these topics: Advantages of PL/SQL Understanding the Main Features of PL/SQL PL/SQL Architecture

Advantages of PL/SQL
PL/SQL is a completely portable, high-performance transaction processing language that offers the following advantages: Tight Integration with SQL Better Performance Higher Productivity Full Portability Tight Security Access to Pre-defined Packages Support for Object-Oriented Programming Support for Developing Web Applications and Pages See Also: Additional information and code samples for PL/SQL on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN), at:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/pl_sql/

Information for a specific topic on OTN, such as "PL/SQL best practices", by entering the appropriate phrase in the search field on the OTN main page at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/

Advantages of PL/SQL
1-2 Oracle Database PL/SQL Users Guide and Reference

Tight Integration with SQL

SQL has become the standard database language because it is flexible, powerful, and easy to learn. A few English-like commands such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE make it easy to manipulate the data stored in a relational database. PL/SQL lets you use all the SQL data manipulation, cursor control, and transaction control commands, as well as all the SQL functions, operators, and pseudocolumns. This extensive SQL support lets you manipulate Oracle data flexibly and safely. Also, PL/SQL fully supports SQL datatypes, reducing the need to convert data passed between your applications and the database. The PL/SQL language is tightly integrated with SQL. You do not have to translate between SQL and PL/SQL datatypes; a NUMBER or VARCHAR2 column in the database is stored in a NUMBER or VARCHAR2 variable in PL/SQL. This integration saves you both learning time and processing time. Special PL/SQL language features let you work with table columns and rows without specifying the datatypes, saving on maintenance work when the table definitions change. Running a SQL query and processing the result set is as easy in PL/SQL as opening a text file and processing each line in popular scripting languages. Using PL/SQL to access metadata about database objects and handle database error conditions, you can write utility programs for database administration that are reliable and produce readable output about the success of each operation. Many database features, such as triggers and object types, make use of PL/SQL. You can write the bodies of triggers and methods for object types in PL/SQL. PL/SQL supports both static and dynamic SQL. The syntax of static SQL statements is known at precompile time and the preparation of the static SQL occurs before runtime, where as the syntax of dynamic SQL statements is not known until runtime. Dynamic

SQL is a programming technique that makes your applications more flexible and versatile. Your programs can build and process SQL data definition, data control, and session control statements at run time, without knowing details such as table names and WHERE clauses in advance. For information on the use of static SQL with PL/SQL, see Chapter 6, "Performing SQL Operations from PL/SQL". For information on the use of dynamic SQL, see Chapter 7, "Performing SQL Operations with Native Dynamic SQL". For additional information about dynamic SQL, see Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals.

Better Performance
Without PL/SQL, Oracle must process SQL statements one at a time. Programs that issue many SQL statements require multiple calls to the database, resulting in significant network and performance overhead. With PL/SQL, an entire block of statements can be sent to Oracle at one time. This can drastically reduce network traffic between the database and an application. As Figure 11 shows, you can use PL/SQL blocks and subprograms to group SQL statements before sending them to the database for execution. PL/SQL also has language features to further speed up SQL statements that are issued inside a loop. PL/SQL stored procedures are compiled once and stored in executable form, so procedure calls are efficient. Because stored procedures execute in the database server, a single call over the network can start a large job. This division of work reduces network traffic and improves response times. Stored procedures are cached and shared among users, which lowers memory requirements and invocation overhead. Advantages of PL/SQL
Overview of PL/SQL 1-3 Figure 11 PL/SQL Boosts Performance

Higher Productivity
PL/SQL lets you write very compact code for manipulating data. In the same way that scripting languages such as Perl can read, transform, and write data from files, PL/SQL can query, transform, and update data in a database. PL/SQL saves time on design and debugging by offering a full range of software-engineering features, such as exception handling, encapsulation, data hiding, and object-oriented datatypes. PL/SQL extends tools such as Oracle Forms. With PL/SQL in these tools, you can use familiar language constructs to build applications. For example, you can use an entire PL/SQL block in an Oracle Forms trigger, instead of multiple trigger steps, macros, or user exits. PL/SQL is the same in all environments. After you learn PL/SQL with one Oracle tool, you can transfer your knowledge to other tools.

Full Portability
Applications written in PL/SQL can run on any operating system and platform where the Oracle database runs. With PL/SQL, you can write portable program libraries and reuse them in different environments.

Tight Security
PL/SQL stored procedures move application code from the client to the server, where you can protect it from tampering, hide the internal details, and restrict who has access. For example, you can grant users access to a procedure that updates a table, but not grant them access to the table itself or to the text of the UPDATE statement. Triggers written in PL/SQL can control or record changes to data, making sure that all changes obey your business rules. For information on wrapping, or hiding, the source of a PL/SQL unit, see Appendix A, "Obfuscating PL/SQL Source Code".
SQL IF ... THEN SQL ELSE SQL END IF;

SQL

RPC
SQL SQL SQL SQL
Application Application Application Other DBMSs Oracle Database with PL/SQL Oracle Database with PL/SQL and Stored Procedures

Understanding the Main Features of PL/SQL

1-4 Oracle Database PL/SQL Users Guide and Reference

Access to Pre-defined Packages

Oracle provides product-specific packages that define APIs you can call from PL/SQL to perform many useful tasks. These packages include DBMS_ALERT for using database triggers, DBMS_FILE for reading and writing operating system (OS) text files, DBMS_HTTP for making hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) callouts, DBMS_OUTPUT for display output from PL/SQL blocks and subprograms, and DBMS_PIPE for communicating over named pipes. For additional information on these packages, see "Overview of Product-Specific Packages" on page 9-9. For complete information on the packages supplied by Oracle, see Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

Support for Object-Oriented Programming

Object types are an ideal object-oriented modeling tool, which you can use to reduce the cost and time required to build complex applications. Besides allowing you to create software components that are modular, maintainable, and reusable, object types allow different teams of programmers to develop software components concurrently. By encapsulating operations with data, object types let you move data-maintenance code out of SQL scripts and PL/SQL blocks into methods. Also, object types hide implementation details, so that you can change the details without affecting client programs. See Chapter 12, "Using PL/SQL With Object Types". In addition, object types allow for realistic data modeling. Complex real-world entities and relationships map directly into object types. This direct mapping helps your programs better reflect the world they are trying to simulate. For information on object types, see Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Object-Relational Features.