Oracle Database 11g PL/SQL Programming Workbook

CHAPTER 10Objects

A few years ago, Oracle looked at objects and said, “Only 5 to 8 percent of customers are using these; therefore, they’re not important.” If you’ve looked at the XML Developer Kit (XDK) components or spatial data objects recently, you’ve probably seen how limited that view has become. Objects are here to stay in Oracle, and they present unique opportunities for hiding logic, organizing code, and achieving reuse.

Historic hindrances that impede PL/SQL object adoptions are threefold. Examples were sparse until the Oracle 11g documentation and principally limited to the Expert Oracle PL/SQL book. Java programmers who best understand the nature of objects write objects in open-source Hibernate because they don’t understand enough ...