ISBN:0672317982Book Description
Sams Teach Yourself PL/SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition, quickly empowers you to create your own Oracle solutions with PL/SQL. Completely revised to cover Oracles 8i, the book provides guidance and direction, leading you through a progression of topics that begin with the basic building blocks of PL/SQL, and ending with in-depth discussions of the more commonly used advanced features of Oracle's database programming environment. New topics include extended dynamic SQL within PL/SQL, Dynamic SQL within PL/SQL, use of invoker's rights, autonomous transactions, interfacing PL/SQL with Java, PL/SQL Bulk Binds, parameter passing by reference, and advanced Querying./p>
Reviews From AMAZON.COM
2 Authors -- one good, one really, really bad
After reading the first 3 chapters of this book, I was thinking to myself "Wow! This book is great". However, moving on to chapter 4, it felt like a bus fell on me. I read the next few chapters in stunned amazement, wondering what happened, and then I discovered it -- the first three chapters had been written by a different author than the current chapters that I was struggling through.
Where the first chapters, written by Jonathan Gennick, had pertinent, precise examples and a good development of the subject matter, the subsequent chapters (4-9), written by Tom Luers, contained error after error with poor development of the subject matter. The naming of variables was confused and the case of variables and keywords changed from example to example (and even within the same example!).
When I started reading this book, I typed all the examples into Personal Oracle to experiment along with the text. In addition, I placed small "sticky" notes on each page where I encountered an error in the text. I found only a few in the first few chapters. However, after hitting chapter 4, I found myself putting notes on at least every other page, and sometimes multiple notes on a single page! After struggling through several chapters of Luers' writing, I could no longer bring myself to type in the examples -- actually, some of the examples were based on tables that had not even been covered yet in the text, making it impossible to try them. Also, because of the huge number of errors, I stopped adding "sticky" notes, lest I run out of my supply.
Sadly, I cannot recommend this book (even though I found the chapters written by Gennick to be very good). If you do buy this book, read chapters 1-3, 10-13, 16-17, and 20-21, and skip the rest.
My final thoughts: I cannot believe that a publisher would sell a book with such an amazing number of errors, or that such a solid technical author would partner with such an incapable one.
An excellent book for beginners to learn PL/SQL
I am a professional Accountant/ Auditor (CPA from USA) and heading finance division in a corporate, with a turnover over $ 2 billion. As our organization is undergoing ERP and I have been made as Implementation Committee member from the client side, I have been looking into Oracle. I don't have any knowledge of any programming language except that I am an extensive good user. In order to interact effectively and out of curiosity, I decided to learn Oracle 8i (SQL and PL/ SQL) and Developer 2K. I attended a fortnight training session given to our EDP guys. As the training was meant for those guys who are already in the field, it was not effective upon me and I could not grasp much. Further I was hesitant to ask my doubts, since otherwise it would slower the pace of the training. I purchased various books from Oracle Press but I found the reading was cumbersome, since it had not been built on a good foundation for lay guys like me. In a hard way, I learnt SQL from the training, books and well-learnt friends and was thorough with that, while I was finding PL/SQL as difficult to learn. I came across this book when perusing thru a bookshop. I liked the way it has been organized. It is 21 days course material with 3 to 5 hours each day and built nicely from day 1. In the week I, one learns basics of PL/SQL and building blocks, in week II, he/ she will learn some of the more advanced features and will also learn how to use PL/SQL in conjunction with a data base. In the final week, Oracle's built in packages have been taught. The book is meant for absolute beginners like me (who have some adequate knowledge of SQL). I have been transformed into a person who has a fairly good knowledge of PL/SQL, after fully going thru the book I am able to understand what sort of codes are written by my Oracle friends and consultants. My colleagues and bosses are admiring my PL/SQL knowledge. Often now I have been placed in the Interview committee to select staff for EDP department along with EDP guys and I have been always asking questions from the Q & A, Quiz, exercises material from this book. Probably one of the coming days, I may even head our EDP department, who knows? Over all, this book is excellent for beginners for learning PL/SQL.