Should I take that Oracle Forms 6.0 PL/SQL job, Steven?

I received this note from a reader from Brazil:

I am a PL/SQL developer for 6 years now. I recently received a job offer to develop in Oracle Forms 6.0, Reports and HTMLDB. I think these are older technologies. I don't know if it is a step back to work on these products, but I do know that I want to develop in Oracle Database 12c, Application Express, and other new technologies. One thing I have found is that it is more and more difficult to find a job in Brazil that only requires PL/SQL experience.

And this is what I said:

No doubt about it, Oracle Forms 6.0 and HTMLDB are not the leading edge of PL/SQL-based Oracle technologies!

You would be much better off working at a company that has upgraded to Oracle Database 12c, has a strong commitment to fully leveraging SQL and PL/SQL, uses Application Express for website and intranet development, etc.

But keep the following in mind:

There are not a whole lot of companies who have upgraded to 12.1.
Don't be like me. I "got away" with specializing very narrowly in PL/SQL. Normal humans don't have that luxury. I suggest that at a minimum you need a working knowledge of Java, Javascript, and regular expressions.
I probably don't have to tell you this, but you have to live in the world as it is, not how you want it to be.

So maybe you should take that old technology job. If you cannot afford to keep looking, that job might end up being a great platform for you to explore the newer technologies as part of planning their upgrade strategy.

In other words: take the interview and then find out what their future plans. You could end up being in the right place at the right time to take the lead in working with 12.1, APEX and more. You could become the in-house superstar and have a long, successful career right there.

And regardless of whether you take the job or hold off, continuing your search, there is absolutely no reason to put off learning about and using the latest technologies.

Download Oracle Database 12c here.

And then, most important of all, pick a project you'd like to work on. In other words, make it as real as possible.

Build an app to keep track of lost kittens in your neighborhood, or a simple to-do list manager or....you name it. Pick an app you really like and then replicate it. You don't have to come up with a wildly, new original idea to hone your skills.

You just need focus and motivation.

Hope this helps!

Three tips for getting started right with Oracle Database development

By "Oracle Database development", I mean, more or less, writing SQL and PL/SQL. I assume in this post that you have access to Oracle Database (which you can get via Cloud services, Docker , GitHub and OTN ). A. Use a powerful IDE, designed with database programming in mind. There are lots of editors out there, and many IDEs that work with Oracle Database. Sure, you could use Notepad, but OMG the productivity loss. You could also use a popular editor like Sublime, and then it get it working with Oracle. I suggest, however, that you download and install Oracle's own own, free, powerful IDE: SQL Developer . If you like to complement your graphical IDE with a command line tool (or OMG if you actually prefer a command line tool to a graphical interface), you should also check out the relatively new and generating-lots-of-excitement SQLcl . B. Enable compile-time warnings and PL/Scope. The database has tons of useful functionality burned right into it, ready for...

Why DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE should not be in your application code

A database developer recently came across my Bulletproof PL/SQL presentation, which includes this slide. That first item in the list caught his attention: Never put calls to DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE in your application code. So he sent me an email asking why I would say that. Well, I suppose that is the problem with publishing slide decks. All the explanatory verbiage is missing. I suppose maybe I should do a video. :-) But in the meantime, allow me to explain. First, what does DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE do? It writes text out to a buffer, and when your current PL/SQL block terminates, the buffer is displayed on your screen. [Note: there can be more to it than that. For example, you could in your own code call DBMS_OUTPUT.GET_LINE(S) to get the contents of the buffer and do something with it, but I will keep things simple right now.] Second, if I am telling you not to use this built-in, how could text from your program be displayed on your screen? Not without a lot o...

The future of Oracle PL/SQL: some thoughts on Sten Vesterli's thoughts

Sten Vesterli published a very thought-provoking post on his blog: Please stop reading this post, and read that one. When you are done, come on back here for my thoughts on Sten's thoughts. OK. You read it. Here we go. First, thanks, Sten, for being such an interesting, wise, sometimes provocative voice in our community. Next, Sten writes: Now, on the one hand, I certainly agree that the vast majority of young developers are currently caught up in the modern version of a Gold Rush, which is: "Build an app using JavaScript, pay no attention to that database behind the curtain." But I can assure you that I still do meet young PL/SQL programmers, regularly, when I am at conferences and doing onsite presentations at companies. So, young person who writes PL/SQL: do not be afraid! You are not alone! And you are super-smart to have made the choice you did. :-) Next, Sten offers this advice to managers: I agree that PL/SQL is a "spec...

ColemanFebruary 5, 2015 at 8:00 PM
Brilliant and sound advice, Steven.
iudithFebruary 6, 2015 at 12:27 PM
Hello,
Oh, I really liked it, Steven !

Learning Oracle12c and APEX and ... + "keeping track of lots of kittens"
is an excellent definition for enjoying life ...
especially after your retirement, when you have the freedom of choice ...

Unfortunately, many companies today do tend to easily throw away entire projects,
after tens of years of work invested in them ... just for replacing them with
other inferior projects, whose only point is that they use a newer technology ...

But, technology is only one thing, and project functionality is another and this
is what in fact matters to the users ...

On the other side, each technology is "intricate enough" for stimulating the tendency to become a "guru" in that specific technology, for being really able to apply it at a very high level and come up with ingenious solutions for each and every situation out of that technology ...
If we already talk about the old good Oracle Forms ... I am still extremely proud
up to this day from having created business charts in my applications already starting from SQL*Forms version 3.0 !!! -- and, of course, specializing them
across the higher versions ...

If somebody wants to survive, I would rather advise him to prefer the database itself
upon ANY of the other technologies ...
As Tom Kyte always says, front-end technologies come and go, and it might only depend on a momentary caprice of one manager or another to decide to replace a technology ... and then through you away no matter how valuable you are ...
The database, instead, will always be THE strategic component of any work place ...
so, the best advise that I would give a young person today would be to focus
on the database, and less on the other things around.

Best Regards,
Iudith Mentzel

Steven FeuersteinFebruary 16, 2015 at 4:18 AM
That is very good advice, Iudith. Thanks for offering it up.

Obsessed with Oracle PL/SQL

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