Oracle

A database is an organized collection of data. The data can be textual, like order or inventory data, or it can be pictures, programs or anything else that can be stored on a computer in binary form.

A relational database stores the data in the form of tables and columns. A table is the category of data, like Employee, and the columns are information about the category, like name or address.

Some databases have minimal feature sets and only store data, while others include programming languages, facilities and utilities to support enterprise-level applications like ERP and data warehousing. Oracle is widely used database and has the most advanced feature set.

Oracle is the world's leading supplier of software for information management but it is best known for its sophisticated relational database products (notably Oracle9i), which are used in Fortune 1000 corporations and by many of the largest Web sites. Oracle's relational database was the world's first to support the Structured Query Language (SQL), now an industry standard. When CEO Lawrence J. Ellison and a few associates formed Oracle in 1977, they were out to prove wrong the prevailing theory that relational databases could not be commercially viable.

Oracle Corporation is one of the major companies developing database management systems(DBMS), tools for database development, middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software. Oracle was founded in 1977, and has offices in more than 145 countries around the world. As of 2005, it employed more than 50,000 people worldwide. Lawrence J. Ellison (Larry Ellison) has served as Oracle's CEO throughout the company's history. Ellison served as the Chairman of the Board until his replacement by Jeffrey O. Henley in 2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO. Forbes magazine once judged Ellison the richest man in the world.

Oracle is made up of a set of processes running in your operating system. These processes manage how data is stored and how it is accessed. Oracle is a program that is running in the background, maintaining your data for you and figuring out where it should go on your hard drive.

In almost all relational databases, data is accessed through SQL, or Structured Query Language, and Oracle is no exception. SQL allows you to SELECT your data, INSERT new records, UPDATE existing records and DELETE records you want to get rid of. SQL can be embedded in other languages or you can run scripts of SQL directly against the database.

PL/SQL is the procedural language extension to SQL. PL/SQL is a programming language like C, Java or Pascal. In the Oracle world, there is no better way to access your data from inside a program. SQL can be natively embedded in PL/SQL programs.

PL/SQL is a feature-rich language geared toward developing database applications. PL/SQL is the procedural language of the database, but it is also the procedural language for most of Oracle's tools. Programs that run inside the database are called stored procedures. These stored procedures are almost always PL/SQL, but can be written in Java.

Some of Oracle's tools to access the database and create programs are:

	*SQLPlus** has a command line interface. With it, you can access the database and write stored procedures, you can run SQL
	commands to retrieve data and you can run scripts of either SQL, PL/SQL or built-in SQL*Plus commands, or a mixture of those.
	three things
	Oracle Developer is a 4GL GUI application Builder. With Developer, you can create forms, reports, and graphics. Oracle*Forms and
	Oracle*Reports are two components of Oracle Developer. Earlier versions created client-server applications, but the more recent
	versions create web applications that run under the Oracle Application Server (OAS). OAS is a web-based application server sold
	by Oracle. OAS is licensed separately and is very expensive (as are its closed source competitors). The current version is OAS 10g.
	HTML DB is a fairly new application builder geared toward web development (added to the DB with release 9iR2). HTML DB does not
	need an application server. This tool runs from the database and can be presented to the web using the Apache web
	server that comes with the database. Since this is not an additional license, it provides a cheaper way to develop
	applications. Developer is a feature-rich thick client with all of the normal GUI widgets. HTML DB is HTML-based and is very
	thin and limited to the HTML provided widgets.
	Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) is the Enterprise GUI tool to manage the database. From this tool, you can perform any action in
	the database that is required. This tool is primarily used for administration but can also be provided to developers for
	application tuning and monitoring. In Oracle 10g, OEM also provides Grid control.

Java is the current hot language, especially on the web. Java is natively supported by Oracle. Technically, you could use Java to create your stored procedures if you chose. When you are working inside the database, you should only resort to Java when you cannot accomplish a task in PL/SQL.

Oracle targets high-end workstations and minicomputers as the server platforms on which to run its database systems. Along with Sun Microsystems, Oracle has long been a champion of network computers. It now boasts that it was the world's first software company to develop and deploy 100 percent Internet-enabled enterprise software across its entire product line: database, server, enterprise business applications, and application development and decision support tools.

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Oracle