Oracle and Open Source: Tools and Applications [Paperback]

Andy Duncan (Author), Sean Hull (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (April 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596000189
• ISBN-13: 978-0596000189
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,091,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oracle and Open Source - an Oxymoron?, May 18, 2001

By 

Jared Still (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle and Open Source: Tools and Applications (Paperback)

Hardly, and after taking a look at this book you will agree.

This book is perfect for anyone that wants to investigate the use of Open Source tools with their Oracle databases.

Finding out what is available, what is useful, what is available, where to get it and how to install it can take a great deal of time.

There is a lot of useful Open Source software available for use with your Oracle database, and though I am a proponent of Open Source software, I will readily admit that it is not all good.

I've given up in exasperation with more than one Open Source tool that would not compile, promised more than it delivered, or simply did not work.

There is though a large collection of Open Source tools that do work, and work well.

What Andy Duncan and Sean Hull have done is compiled an encyclopedia of Open Source tools that do work, and work with the Oracle database.

This book is much more than just a list of Open Source software. Sean and Andy tell you where to find each application, how to install and configure it, and how to use it.

Need to know the different connection methods for Oracle and JDBC? You'll find it here.

How about using Oracle, Apache and JServ? It's in this book.

I thought myself fairly well versed in what Open Source tools were available for Oracle, that is prior to seeing this book.

Some excellent Oracle specific tools are here that I was not aware of previously. In fairness to me though, I know of at least one not in the book. :)

Oracle & Open Source is a well thought out and well executed guide that belongs on the desk of every Oracle DBA, Architect and developer that wants to get a jump start on using Open Source software with Oracle.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener for Oracle lovers, June 19, 2001

By 

vad roytman (Northbrook, il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle and Open Source: Tools and Applications (Paperback)

Found this book very useful and a real eye opener for those who like myself believed that all your Oracle goodies coming from Oracle Corp. A set of Open Source tools and applications described in this book is amazing. In particular, DB Prism/Cocoon is something that I jumped in right away. Whether you are DBA, developer or just a plain user of Oracle databases, you will find something that will benefit you/your business. Money well spent.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, June 13, 2001

By 

Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle and Open Source: Tools and Applications (Paperback)

Oracle for quite some time now has embraced Open Source technology and as a result there are a number of Open Source tools that can be used with Oracle databases. This book takes a look at all of them. Starting off with a brief "history" of how Oracle and Open Source software have combined to build a number of Oracle applications, how Tcl, Perl, and Python have played a part and how to install them, building web-based Oracle apps, how Java, GNOME, and GTK+ also are involved with Oracle software, even a brief mention of how Linux & Oracle work together.

There is a wealth of good open source programs around for use with Oracle and this book gives a detailed explanation of how to install and use all of them to your advantage.