Steven Feuerstein On Dispelling PL/SQL Coding Myths

Dispelling Oracle myths seems to be a regular theme at the moment, and Steven Feuerstein dispels a few PL/SQL coding myths himself in a new article for Oracle Magazine called "Controlling Mythological Code". According to Steven,

"Don't use the XYZ feature; there was a problem back in version n.n." "Always use explicit cursors; doing so is the most efficient way to fetch a single row of data."

"Avoid packages; they use too much memory."

I bet you've heard one variation or another of such statements. They are just a few of the myths that are perpetuated in our PL/SQL applications. In some cases, there was a very good reason for their initial injection into our software. In many other cases, ignorance is a more active ingredient. Whatever the original motivation, software that reflects these myths can be very hard to ferret out and even harder to replace with "true" code. This article explodes a variety of the most pernicious PL/SQL myths, shows you how to systematically remove them, and offers advice about how to avoid writing today what will be mythological code tomorrow."