Preface

After publishing more than 1,600 pages on Oracle PL /SQL in two previous books, I marvel at the existence now of this third book covering yet other aspects of the PL /SQL language. I can still remember quite distinctly a moment in September, 1994, when I embarked on writing the first draft of Oracle PL /SQL Programming and wondered: are there really 400 pages worth of material on that much-used and often-maligned procedural language from a nonprocedural (SQL) company? If the answer to that question was a resounding "yes" in 1994, then the answer is a deafening roar today!

Maybe PL /SQL isn't the answer to every object-oriented programmer's deepest desires. Maybe developers are badly in need of -- and unreservedly deserve -- better tools with which to write, debug, and reuse PL /SQL programs. Maybe PL /SQL isn't perfect, but the reality is that hundreds of thousands of people around the world work (and struggle) with PL /SQL on a daily basis. We all need as much information as possible about how we can make the best possible use of Oracle PL /SQL.

And that is the objective of Oracle Built-in Packages . If you are going to build complex applications using PL /SQL, you will not succeed unless you learn about and figure out how to utilize many of the packages described in this book. Packages are the method of choice for Oracle and third parties like RevealNet, Inc., to extend the base PL /SQL language, to improve ease of use, and to provide brand-new functionality in the language. Writing PL /SQL code without knowing about or using built-in packages is akin to building an automobile and ignoring the last 20 years of technological advances. The resulting machine will run more slowly, use more gas, and be harder to repair.

Oracle Built-in Packages grew out of Chapter 15 of the first edition of Oracle PL /SQL Programming . When Oracle released Oracle8, it was time to update that book to include the wide-ranging new PL /SQL8 functionality. It was clear from the start that this second edition, if organized like the first, would have been well over 1,500 pages in length -- a totally impractical size for a developer's handbook.

What to do? Based on feedback from developers about Oracle PL /SQL Programming , there was an enormous amount of interest in, and often confusion surrounding, the built-in packages. These Oracle-provided "add-ons" to PL /SQL clearly needed more detailed coverage, more examples, more tips, more of just about everything. My single chapter of 100 pages was woefully inadequate. We made the decision to move that single chapter out of Oracle PL /SQL Programming and expand it into a book all its own. You are holding the result.

I recognized early in the process that I couldn't personally cover all of the Oracle built-in packages discussed in this book. I didn't have the necessary expertise, nor the time to learn, nor the time to write it all. So I sought and received the help of two excellent Oracle technologists: John Beresniewicz and Charles Dye.

Over the past six months, John, Charles, and I have researched the packages provided by Oracle in the database, verified the documentation, uncovered aberrant behavior, and discovered neat tricks. We also made it a priority to construct package-based utilities that you will be able to put to immediate use.

While Oracle Built-in Packages is a collaborative effort, it is also a combination of very individual efforts. As such, you will find differences in coding styles and philosophies. Rather than try to enforce a single standard throughout, I welcomed the variations (as long as all contributed in their own way to a deeper, clearer understanding of the PL /SQL technology). There is rarely a single right way to do anything, and there is an enormous amount we can learn from the different journeys each of us takes to a solution.

For purposes of directing feedback and questions, you may find it useful to know who wrote each of the chapters. In the next section, "Structure of this Book," you will find the names of the authors listed with their chapters. You will also see that there are two other names: Chuck Sisk and Chip Dawes. While many people helped in many ways to produce Oracle Built-in Packages (see the "Acknowledgements" for details), Chuck and Chip actually contributed entire chapters.