Oracle Quick Guides Part 3 - Coding in Oracle SQL and PL/SQL

This is Part 3 of a series of quick learning guides for Oracle designers, developers and managers. Part 3 introduces completely new entrants to the main concepts of the SQL language and to the use and development of Oracle's PL/SQL procedural version of SQL.The guide includes details of how to install and use a SQL*Plus client and the basic use of Oracle's SQL Developer tool. The guide also provides a foundation in coding practise in SQL and PL/SQL with some basic guidelines for good practise in coding and managing SQL and PL/SQL software performance issues. Part 3 also contains a glossary of Oracle terminology related to SQL and PL/SQL with clear explanations of the terms used.These guides are designed to rapidly deliver key information about Oracle to the following audience groups:- Project Managers, Team Leaders, and Testers who are new to Oracle and need rapid access to strategic information about the Oracle development environment.- Business Analysts, Designers and Software developers who are new to Oracle and need to make a first step in gaining a detailed understanding of the design and development issues involved in Oracle.Part 3 assumes that the reader has read Parts 1 and 2 of the Oracle Quick Guides or their equivalent content. The contents of Part 3 include the following subject headings:1. What are SQL, SQL*Plus and PL/SQL?2. Basic Components of SQL.3. Basic SQL Language Syntax.3.1 SQL Language Elements.3.2 SQL Operators3.3 SQL Expressions3.4 SQL Functions3.5 SQL Clauses3.6 SQL Query syntax.3.7 SQL Data Modification Language syntax (DML).3.8 SQL Data Definition Language syntax (DDL).3.9 SQL Data Command Language syntax (DCL).3.10 SQL Data Types in Oracle4. Complex SQL constructs: Understanding Joins.5. Understanding Commit and Rollback.6. Basic architecture PL/SQL Procedures, Functions and Triggers.7. Basic PL/SQL Language syntax.8. PL/SQL Exception handling.9. SQL and PL/SQL: some standards for good coding appearance.10. Performance issues when coding in SQL11. Installing and using a SQL*Plus client12. SQL - PL/SQL Development Tools13. Glossary of Terms.

Malcolm Coxall is a management consultant, systems analyst, organic farmer and author, with more than 30 years experience working for many of the world's largest corporate and institutional organisations, starting in the field of dispute arbitration for the ILO. These experiences have provided him a ringside view of the management methodologies used by medium and large businesses in areas as diverse as banking, oil, defence, telecoms, insurance, manufacturing, mining, food, agriculture, aerospace, textiles, and heavy engineering. Malcolm has published articles on political science, sociology, human design, sustainable agriculture, organic food production, technology in organic farming, biodiversity, forest management, environmental protection and environmental economics. He is active in European environmental politics and was a successful private complainant in the European Court of Justice in several cases of national breaches of European environmental law. He now lives in Southern Spain from where he continues his IT and system consultancy work, writing and managing the family's organic olive farm.