Bob Watkins’ Ten Outdated Beliefs About The Oracle Database

"Versions 8i and 9i of Oracle have altered the facts behind several common beliefs of DBAs. Find out why these five cherished beliefs about working with the database may no longer be true and how the changes enhance your options." writes Bob Watkins in an article titled "Rethink five outdated ideas about Oracle" for TechRepublic.com. And what are these outdated beliefs?

  1. Block size is fixed
  2. Single extent tables are faster
  3. Export and import are the only way to reorganise tables
  4. Columns can't be dropped
  5. Stored procedures always run as the owner.

If you found the article useful, Bob Watkins has also produced a follow-up, entitled "Five More Things To Unlearn About Oracle". According to Bob, "In a previous article, I described five things about Oracle that DBAs widely believed but which were no longer true. As I continue to teach Oracle 9i, I find more DBAs running current versions of the software but still living within the limitations of older versions. Here are five more things that it s time to unlearn about the Oracle database.". And they are?

  1. Only the DBA can recover data
  2. Oracle can t store fractions of seconds
  3. A corrupted block requires dropping an object
  4. Columns can t be renamed or reorganized
  5. Only the owner of a table can grant permission to use it