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August 18, 2006

Oracle Crash Course and Tools

This Oracle Crash Course will get you up to speed with Oracle technologies, and help you you started with your Oracle DBMS database deployment. It will help you learn Oracle's DBMS fundamentals for versions 8.x through 9.x, and also gives you with an overview of Oracle10g's new tools and features. Oracle is often evaluated with SQL Server and DB2 in DBMS evaluations. Many users claim that for enterprise environments, Oracle has more robust functionality and better performance than these other databases. Also included in this post are Oracle tools and utilities that are free or low cost.

Crash Course: Oracle Basics

Table of Contents
    Know your terminology
    Oracle overview
    Product details
    Is Oracle right for you?
    Getting started with your DBMS
    Database administration basics
    Upgrade considerations
    Resources to help you along the way
    Guide to Oracle Freeware

Know your terminology

Before you invest your time and money in Oracle, make sure you know what you're talking about. The following resources will help you find your way through the sea of Oracle terms and acronyms.

Oracle overview

Are you a self-dubbed Oracle newbie? Are you in the early stages of your Oracle research? Seeking some quick answers to your tough questions? Here's a list of beginning Oracle resources, including tutorials, expert technical advice and FAQs.

Product details

Oracle8i, 9i, 10g... what do all the numbers mean? Get product details, version comparisons and an overview of Oracle tools and features here.

Is Oracle right for you?

Many users are torn about which DBMS is best -- Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 or another option. One offers advanced functionality with a high price, another is cheaper but may limit you to smaller projects. Read the debates and comparisons among the DBMS solutions.

Getting started with your DBMS

So you've chosen Oracle -- now what? You need to make sure you properly design and install your DBMS. The following resources will help you determine storage and sizing requirements, initiate design plans and identify installation best practices.

Database administration basics

The job of a DBA is never done. They have to consider security, performance, availability, backup and recovery, migrations and so on -- and many of these tasks have to be performed on a daily basis. The following list will give you some quick insights into the job of an Oracle DBA.

Upgrade considerations

Choosing Oracle for your DBMS needs means making a long-term investment in that vendor and its products. Upgrades are necessary to keep up with the latest and greatest technologies. The following resources will help you determine why and how to upgrade your DBMS.

Resources to help you along the way

Feeling stumped by your Oracle research, installation or administration? The following resources may come in handy.

Guide to Oracle Freeware and Low Cost Tools

Searchoracle.techtarget.com has gathered a number of free and low-cost tools and utilities that will help you Oracle DBAs and developers do your job better. Here you can find freeware, shareware or inexpensive Oracle tools and utilities (less than $100).

Table of Contents
Database administration
Development

Oracle Database Administration Freeware

Adept: Automatically back up most Oracle databases to local storage.
Data Loader: Load data directly into an Oracle database.
DBComp: A database comparison and merge application.
FastOra: View, compare, modify, and save snapshots of Oracle database structures.
ReportXpert: Acquire different reports for Oracle database performance and statistics.
SafetyNet Lite for Oracle: Back up and export your database on a regular basis.
SchemaSurf: A browser-based tool for querying your Oracle database schemas.
Schemester: Database modeling tool for Oracle: create logical entity relationship diagrams and generate DDL scripts.
Statspack Viewer: GUI that helps you visualize Oracle's STATSPACK utility output.
SwisSQL: Helps you migrate Oracle PL/SQL Packages, Procedures, Functions and Triggers to Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL.
The DDL Extract Wizard: Reads an Oracle export file and displays the DDL code.

Oracle Development Freeware

Aqua Data Studio: Create, edit, and execute SQL scripts, as well as browse and visually modify database structures.
CAST Code-Checker: Detect and analyze specific performance, portability and quality issues in the PL/SQL or Java code of your applications.
CuteSQL: Execute SQL commands and queries for any database.
iSQL-Viewer: An open-source JDBC-compliant database front-end written in Java, including a query builder, object viewer, batch processor and more.
JBSQL: Enhanced SQL*Plus editor with improved output, text editing, and command history.
JDBExplorer: Create, view, edit, and compile PL/SQL and Java code.
MyGeneration: Generate C# and VB.Net classes and stored procedures from customizable templates.
OracleTool: Edit, modify, create and drop all types of objects; compare schemas and data; PL/SQL editor.
OraEdit: Edit and compile your PL/SQL code, create new objects from templates, export all/some source, and more.
Query Reporter: Create and run HTML reports from the results of a SQL query against an Oracle database.
Statement Tracer for Oracle: Tool for debugging programs interfacing with Oracle.
SQLCreator: A Java-based graphical SQL database query and development tool.
TOAD: Toad improves productivity with all the functionality needed to build and execute queries, create and modify database objects, and develop and debug SQL and PL/SQL code.
TranslateSQL: Generates SQL Server SQL scripts based on an existing Oracle schema, in essence 'translating' Oracle schemas into SQL Server databases.
TSHSQL: A Java-based PL/SQL editor and SQL query tool.