Book Review: Mastering Oracle PL/SQL: Practical Solutions

Title: Mastering Oracle PL/SQL: Practical Solutions
Authors: Christoper Beck, Joel Kallman, Chaim Katz, David C. Knox, Connor McDonald
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 1-59059-217-4
Publication Date: Dec 2003
Website: http://www.apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=276
More info can be found at the Publisher’s website. The source code is available for download.

As it says in the description for this book, if you’re not familiar with most of the ins and outs of PL/SQL, this book will will not be what you’re looking for.
This book covers some best practices on how to write robust, easy to maintain PL/SQL applications which also perform well.
Especially the chapter on security is very valuable. It gave me some new insights in how to handle some security issue you deal with on a regular basis.
In the last chapter and the appendix they explain a way of instrumenting your code. This is good stuff. A must read.
As with other Oak-Table books I’ve read, the source code is available for download. This way you can verify the results they claim in the book
(“Question Authority”). Because of the improvements to the Oracle 10g database, not all claims are still valid. (What’s New in PL/SQL)
Even though it’s not really a book for beginners, some parts are very entry level. I think it’s safe to says that everybody knows the meaning of : new and : old in row triggers. ;-). Overall it’s a great book.