Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

by Chip Dawes (Author), Steven Feuerstein (Author), Bill Pribyl (Author)
Key Phrases: external procedures, database interaction, match modifiers, Language Pocket Reference, Oracle Database, Oracle's Object-Oriented Features (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For those instances when you don't need all the answer, but just a reminder or quick answer to a problem you're up against, nothing's handier than the new edition of the Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference. Updated for Oracle10g, this third edition boils down the most vital information from Oracle PL/SQL Programming into a handy guide to PL/SQL basics. The book includes fundamental language elements, such as block structure, identifiers, variables, datatypes, ad declarations; statements for program control, cursor management, and exception handling; the basics of records, procedures, functions, triggers, and packages; and the calling of PL/QL functions in SQL. And there's more. This concise guide also covers Oracle objects, collections, external procedures, Java integration, and new Oracle 10g elements like regular expressions, compile-time warnings, more implicit conversion, and more. The amount of valuable information packed into this slim volume--organized for quick accessibility--make this an indispensable reference for new and seasoned Oracle database developers alike.

About the Author
Steven Feuerstein is considered one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language. He is the author or coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices, Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features, Oracle PL/SQL

Bill Pribyl, author, teacher, and software consultant, is the primary author of Learning Oracle PL/SQL and the coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming and its companion pocket reference, all published by O'Reilly & Associates. An Oracle user since 1986, Bil

Chip Dawes has been building and maintaining systems on relational databases since 1988 and with Oracle since 1990. He is currently a consultant with D&D Technologies, a Chicago consultancy. He enjoys working with, lecturing on, and writing about Oracle d

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 3rd edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006802
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006808
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #647,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only "OK", May 18, 2000

By	Andrew Harbick (Harrisonburg, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference (Paperback)

I've worked with Oracle for quite a while, and I've tinkered with PL/SQL, triggers, etc. on and off during the time that I used Oracle. Recently, I needed to write a really simple PL/SQL program to assist in doing a backfill. I bought this book expecting to pluck out details quickly for writing this program. Unfortunately, there was no index, and the table of contents was a little too high-level to help you find specific information. Finally, once you locate an appropriate section, the text is terse and the examples are quite basic.

I concede that I probably should've bought "Oracle PL/SQL Language" the book for which this is a reference for my particular need. Just beware, however, that this book is solely a reference, and is hard to use unless you already know PL/SQL.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great pocket reference, 2nd edition WITH INDEX now, April 3, 2003

By	Gregor Theis (Meerbusch Deutschland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference (Paperback)

This small booklet "ORACLE PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference" in this new 2nd edition is exactly what you need as PL/SQL (PL/SQL is the ORACLE procedural language extension of SQL) programmer (and is even more important for casual PL/SQL programmer).

"ORACLE PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference" assumes that you are running at least ORACLE 8i and it covers ORACLE 9i as well (ORACLE 9i features are marked as such).

The content and coverage of the book is very good from my perspective. Even the more exotic features that I just can't remember, like e.g. the AUTHID stuff for PL/SQL procedures, are covered in this book. Even if you do not remember the exact keyword to look something up in the index, the book is still small enough to brose over every page in a couple of minutes to find your solution. All of the ORACLE 9i features (that I know of) are explained like e.g. "bulk binds" (cool PL/SQL performance feature).

The language and the new index are very good.

Even though this is a relatively small book, there are examples for almost every topic covered (although not big ones).

This is NOT the right book to learn PL/SQL and it will not teach you any SQL. If you want to learn PL/SQL, I recommend the other books (by the same authors) from O'Reilly that are all VERY good.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Handy but could be easier to access topics, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference (Paperback)

There is no index and only a scanty table of contents. You are forced to go to the area and browse for information. It is a short book, and scanning works, but an index would be more efficient.