PL/SQL: Past, Present, and Future
Sunil Bhargava
Group Manager, PL/SQL Development
Oracle Corporation
PL/SQL is Oracle's procedural extension to SQL. PL/SQL is a full fledged
programming language which integrates features such as data encapsulation,
information hiding, overloading, and exception handling, with support for
distributed computing and a programming environment which naturally and
efficiently extends SQL. Unlike "embedded SQL" bindings, where the names and
types of database objects are opaque to the procedural language, PLSQL merges
the transient and persistent name spaces and types, and performs compile-time
semantic analysis of the bindings between program variables and SQL
statements. This talk will describe the motivation behind PL/SQL -- why
Oracle chose to design and implement yet another programming language, the
rationale behind the design choices, and the architecture of the
implementation. We will also discuss the probable future of PL/SQL
including support for objects, open systems, and more extensive
support for distributed computing.