Millions of application developers and database administrators around the world use
software provided by Oracle Corporation to build complex systems that manage vast
quantities of data. At the heart of much of Oracle’s software is PL/SQL—a program-ming language that provides procedural extensions to Oracle’s version of SQL (Struc-tured Query Language) and serves as the programming language within the Oracle
Developer toolset (most notably Forms Developer and Reports Developer).
PL/SQL figures prominently as an enabling technology in almost every new product
released by Oracle Corporation. Software professionals use PL/SQL to perform many
kinds of programming functions, including:
• Implementing crucial business rules in the Oracle Server with PL/SQL-based stored
procedures and database triggers
• Generating and managing XML documents entirely within the database
• Linking web pages to an Oracle database
• Implementing and automating database administration tasks—from establishing
row-level security to managing rollback segments within PL/SQL programs