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Oracle Question

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by boise_bound

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I'm curious to hear how steep the learning curve is with Oracle? Does anyone have any insight they can share with me?

8 replies

by epepke

It depends: Oracle what?

If you just want to use SQL to access it, it's pretty easy. If you've used another SQL-accessable database, Oracle is nicer. If you want to access the new object stuff in 8i, it's a bit hairier. If you want to learn how to do PL/SQL, it helps to have learned some fairly primitive language like BASIC. PL/SQL has more frustration than genuine difficulty built into it. If you want to learn Oracle Applications, it can be done, but it isn't much fun. Same with Oracle Financials. If you want to learn the guts of Oracle HRMS, make sure you have a LOT of Minoxidil. Avoiding duplicates on date-tracked tables alone will make you lose hair. And, if you want to learn Oracle DBA, consider a career in politics.

by anthonybernardino

The differences from Oracle and MS SQL is about the size of the grand canyon. I'd say ... Oracle is an excellent scalable enterprise database system. If you're a big time gui user, I'd say you're gonna have to put in some overtime into oracle because it requires heavy use of SQL and the syntax is different. DBA studio relieves much of the pressure of learning SQL, but when it comes down to the real producers ... the ones who usually successfully administer Oracle, are ones with long time DBAbackgrounds and knowledge of SQL. It'll probably take the average person 1 year to 2 years to get familiar with it, but the Oracle RDMBS is very stable, and doesn't require huge overhead from the OS or hardware. If you really want to learn Oracle,start with a little RDMBS like Access, then learn MS SQL server. Learn the syntax and the concepts of SQL and how the RDBMS manages memory. Then after that, move on to Oracle. I feel that Oracle is a better system when it comes to RDBMS because it lets you do the thinking. But for some others who don't like to use their "noodles", they should stick with MS SQL or ACCESS.

by boise_bound

Thanks for the input. I've done some SQL and Access, like them both, not difficult to work with.

So it sounds like Oracle shouldn't be any more difficult than those? Just a LOT more work!!

Hopefully.....

by benjy

Oracle is indeed a brilliant system , but SQL SERVER has caught up and performs better and cheaper ....

by boise_bound

I'm taking a new position that needs a large scale DB, manufacturing info. Not familiar with Oracle but that's what I'm told they'd like to use. So, I'm trying to get an idea of what sort of system we're going with, and what its going to take to get up to speed. About the only other systems I'm familiar with is Access (which I know isn't even close) and SQL. So, starting from scratch on this one, designing from the ground up.

Any thoughts?

by epepke

By SQL, I presume you mean MS SQL Server. SQL itself is the language, and it wasn't invented by Bill Gates. Oracle uses SQL a lot, and if you already know how to communicate with SQL Server using SQL, you know 90% of what you need to know to use Oracle effectively. Here are the major differences that will affect you if you are developing an application:

1) Oracle has a different syntax for outer joins.
2) Oracle has sequences (which MS SQL server didn't have the last time I looked, whichwas a while ago).
3) Oracle has CONNECT, which you can use to search through trees in your tables.
4) Oracle actually works. It's reliable, and it stays up.

However, while using Oracle is easy, instaling and administering it can be a bear.

by anthonybernardino

Oracle 8 has an ACCESS wizard that will let you migrate it into an Oracle database. I've only worked with Oracle for a year, but I'd have to say that I do enjoy working with it. If you want to try it out, PL/SQL courses only take 2 or 3 months. Develop a test bed for this project and see how it works for you. There's a book on Oracle 8 that was published by SAMS. This book does a lot of the calculations for you. I'd say to try this book out to help you with you calculating your SGA for Oracle. Best of luck ... and I hope you find a answer for your company.

by shanghai sam

I have read the comments in this discussion with some interest. I am an Oracle DBA with fifteen years experience and I've been around the block a few times (more then a few actually).

Oracle products have seriously slipped in the past few years. The most stable version of Oracle I ever used was 7.3.4 which is no longer supported. At the same time prices have gone through the roof.

Most of the wonderful new features in 8i don't work, DBA management time is more then significant, installation tends to be a nightmare, and performance is nowhere near what Oracle sales people claim. Then they unbundle new features and you end up paying through the nose. ($80,000.00 for the partitioning option is nuts)

From experience I have found SQLServer 2000 to be robust, reliable, easy to work with, and it also stays up. Microsoft has a good product and it's market share is growing.

At this time I would say that SQLServer is the better product. Definitly from a developers point of view considering the Visual studio tools that Microsoft has. The one limitation is Microsoft doesn't really have a good case tool product. I wouldn't recommend Oracle's Designer product either for that matter.

Bottom line is SQLServer is a good product andif you can't afford the high cost of Oracle is the better choice.

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