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PLSQL Overview

This overview aims to answer the questions what is PLSQL, what features does it provide and why should I use it.

What is PLSQL?

PLSQL is Oracle's proprietary programming language for use with its databases. It is a high-level, block-structured programming language that is based on ADA (therefore having a syntax similar to Pascal, Modula-2 and Ada) providing procedural extensions to SQL to make data manipulation easier.

What Are The Advantages of Using It?

It is tightly integrated with both the Oracle database and SQL (the lingua franca for all databases), giving it a number of advantages over other languages like C#, C, or Visual Basic as follows:
  1. Performance - both at run time an design time. As it uses the same basic datatypes as SQL there is no need to translate them at design time or run time.
  2. Reduced network traffic - code can be stored in the database  thereby eliminating the round trip from client to server and back again and enabling the stored procedures to take advantage of the processing power of the server and be shared amongst all users thereby reducing memory requirements.
  3. Portability - it runs on every platform Oracle runs on and code written on one platform requires no changes to run on any other (this is handled by the database).
  4. SQL statements can be embedded directly in the code including transaction control and data manipulation statements. All the SQL functions, operators and pseudo-columns can also be used and the language provides full control of cursors.

What Features Does The Language Provide?

Whilst not an object-oriented language in the same vein as Java, it does provide features like data hiding, encapsulation, collection types and exception handling and supports the use of objects.

Also provided are library routines for reading/writing files, write output to a screen, display output on a web page and to communicate with other processes and web and email servers. Examples of these features are available here.

In short, it is the ideal language for use with Oracle databases and can also be used in Forms and Reports to provide additional data verification and other logic.

Its only potential disadvantage is that it's proprietary to Oracle. This is not a significant disadvantage unless you plan to migrate to a different database supplier or need to build code that is database independent.

For an introduction to the language including its features, data types and use of the language see our tutorial.

See our PLSQL examples for examples of using features such as cursors, records and loops.

Or learn about pl/sql procedures and functions by clicking on the appropriate link.

Full details of syntax and usage are provided by the OracleŽ Database PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference available from the Oracle Technology Network.

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