Oracle Database Ajax & PHP Web Application Development

APPENDIX EPL/SQL Primer

Procedure Language/Structured Query Language (PL/SQL) was developed by Oracle in the late 1980s. Originally, PL/SQL had limited capabilities, but that changed in the early 1990s. PL/SQL provides Oracle Database with an interpreted and operating-system-independent programming environment. SQL is natively integrated in the PL/SQL language, and PL/SQL programs can be called directly from the command-line SQL*Plus interface covered in Appendix D. It is assumed that you have basic familiarity with operating in the SQL*Plus environment, and that you will read this appendix sequentially.

The PL/SQL language is a robust tool with many options. As a PL/SQL primer, the appendix introduces:

Oracle PL/SQL block structure

Variables, ...