general

This is one of the best written and easiest to read of any technical book I've ever read. We've often provided this book to students in the Oracle classes that we teach. Furthermore, when I was on an Oracle consulting project a couple of years ago, working alongside consultants from Oracle Corporation, I noticed that the Oracle Corp consultants weren't using the Oracle Corp documentation on PL/SQL for reference - they all had this book.

Steve Feuerstein presents a tremendous overview and in-depth analysis of the PL/SQL language with practical examples. He includes several design recommendations and practical real world examples and recommendations that make this a solid book for PL/SQL professionals who are serious about writing production code.

I was a bit wary buying yet another Steve Feuerstein Bible, with my bookshelf already groaning under the weight of all the other ones including the 2nd Edition of this book. But he's never disappointed me yet, and this book was no exception. With all the latest 9i features blended right in, rather than being in their own section, it has made development easier when looking for the definitive reference to a complete code module. I particularly like Chapter 15 on NDS statements and dynamic PL/SQL and the entire Advanced PL/SQL section covering Java, External Procedures and PL/SQL Object Orientation. It is much better balanced than the 2nd Edition, more concise, and just better all round. A fine piece of work. I just get that Oracle 9i PL/SQL job just done quicker. Anybody want to buy an old 2nd Edition? No good to me anymore.

This is an excellent book to learn the language of PL/SQL; but not really a good reference material.