Oracle and Open Source: Includes Perl, Linux, Tcl, Python, Apache, Java and More - Softcover

Hull, Sean; Duncan, Andy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0596000189 ISBN 13: 9780596000189

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2001

Synopsis

Oracle & Open Source is the first book to tie together the commercial world of Oracle and the free-wheeling world of open source software. As this book reveals, these two worlds are not as far apart as they may seem. Today, there are many excellent and freely available software tools that Oracle developers and database administrators can use, at no cost, to improve their own coding productivity and their system's performance. Moreover, many of the finest Oracle developers are now making their source code freely available so their peers can build upon this code base. Oracle Corporation is even porting its RDBMS to Linux and starting to incorporate a growing number of open source tools in the company's own software.

Oracle & Open Source describes close to 100 open source tools you can use for Oracle development and database administration, from large and widely known open source systems (like Linux, Perl, Apache, TCL/Tk and Python) to more Oracle-specific tools (like Orasoft, Orac, OracleTool, and OraSnap). You'll learn how to obtain the software and how to adapt it to best advantage. The book abounds with code examples, download and installation instructions, and helpful usage hints.

Not only does it tell you how to find and use existing open source code;Oracle & Open Source gives you the details and the motivation to build your own open source contributions and release them to the Oracle community. You'll learn all about tools like the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) and Perl-DBI (Database Interface), which provide the glue allowing new open source tools to link into commercial Oracle software.

With Oracle & Open Source as a guide, you'll discover an enormous number of highly effective open source tools, while getting involved with the thriving community of open source development.

About this title

Review

Oracle made a big decision a couple of years ago. The company decided to open certain aspects of its relational database management system (RDBMS) to manipulation by outside software. That architectural decision enabled a whole community of specialized software developers to thrive. In Oracle & Open Source, Andy Duncan and Sean Hull explore the universe of open source (that is, modifiable and largely free) software for Oracle applications. The authors approach the subject from two angles: that of database administrators who simply want to locate, download, and use tools that others have created, and that of the software developer who wants to learn about and take advantage of the hooks Oracle has built into its products.

The downloaders will be pleased with documentation of Orac, Oddis, Karma, Oracletool, GNOME-DB, and other ready-to-run administration and design tools. The book explains what each tool does, where it comes from, how to install it, and how to use it (complete with hallmark O'Reilly options lists in most cases). The programmer set, eager to contribute to the collection of open-source Oracle tools, will learn a lot from documentation of Oracle-specific libraries for various languages, including Oratcl for Tcl/Tk, several Perl modules, DCOracle for Python, and the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) classes for Java. Some programmers may find the introductory sections too general in focus, but they'll be pleased by sections that explain the use of specific methods and functions. --David Wall

Topics covered: The collection of libraries that have come into existence to facilitate interaction with Oracle databases from within home-grown software, as well as programs that others have written to take advantage of those libraries.

About the Author

Andy Duncan is the coauthor of Oracle & Open Source (O'Reilly, 2001), as well as Perl for Oracle DBAs (O'Reilly, 2002). The first book arose after Andy's creation, in 1998, of the Orac Perl/Tk tool for Oracle DBAs. Since then, he has worked mainly as an independent development and DBA consultant, and has counted both Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems among his long-term clients. In addition to performing Oracle, Perl, and Java consultancy work, Andy teaches as a senior instructor for Learning Tree International, covering both introductory and advanced Perl courses. He lives in Oxfordshire, England.

Sean Hull is an Oracle DBA and web developer plying his trade as an independent consultant with his own firm, iHeavy Inc., in New York City. He focuses on integrating open source technologies with commercial technologies such as Oracle, and has serviced many successful Silicon Alley companies. His practice is growing steadily with an expanding network of associates offering a wide range of database, web, and Internet-related services. He is the author of Karma, a web-based open source Oracle monitoring tool, and a major contributor to the Orac DBA tool. He also contributes to the telelists Oracle email list and the dbi-users email list. On his days off, you might find him practicing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. He resides in Manhattan, where he enjoys the fast pace, great restaurants, culture, and art. He can be reached at shull@iheavy.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0596000189
• ISBN 13: 9780596000189
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 424