PL-SQLIntroduction-1IntroductiontoPLSQL.pptVIP

Introduction to PL/SQL What is PL/SQL? PL/SQL stands for Procedural Language / Structured Query Language and it is an extension to SQL. In SQL queries we normally tell database what we want but do not tell it how to do it. This makes for very fast and easy software development. SQL has its own drawbacks (disadvantages) though, in that it is not very flexible and it cannot be made to react differently to differing situations very easily, this is where PL/SQL comes in. PL/SQL allows you to work with the database with the ease of SQL , while giving you the power and flexibility of procedural constructs such as:- Variables Flow Control (If Else Condition) Error Handling…etc. (Exceptions) What is PL/SQL? PL/SQL is the central programming language found in most of Oracles Developments Tools, just as SQL is the core language used for database manipulation. Using PL/SQL however, you can create a block of code containing several SQL statements and send them as a single request to the database. This improves performance. PL/SQL Features PL/SQL has many features, some of the major features are listed below:- 1. Variables Constants - Objects within PL/SQL that are used to store and manipulate (change) values. Several Data types are available, the more common ones being, NUMBER, VARCHAR2, DATE and BOOLEAN. 2. SQL - All DML (Data Manipulation Language) type SQL statements can be used directly within PL/SQL. For Example: Select , Insert , Update , delete 3. Flow Control - PL/SQL supports flow control statements such as IF, FOR, WHILE. These allow for conditional actions, branching and iterative (loop) control. 4. Built-in Functions - Most functions that are available in SQL can be used within a PL/SQL statement. For Example: Len , upper , substring etc. 5.