0 
0 Oracle recently released its first production version of a graphical database development tool called “SQL Developer†(version 1.0) – formerly project Raptor.
If you have ever worked with Oracle Jdeveloper you will find that SQL Developer has the same look and feel.
With this tool you are able to browse database objects, view and edit table data, run SQL statements, edit and debug PL\SQL statements.
There is also a “Reports†section in which one can select some basic database catalog views, very handy.
SQL Developer supports database from 9.2 and later (including XE).
The tool has been developed in Java and therefore supports Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems.
Connecting to databases is done via the JDBC Thin driver which means that an Oracle client is not required.
The best news is that SQL Developer is FREE
All one needs to do is download SQL Developer from Oracle (54Mb), unzip the file and then run the executable (no installation required), it’s that simple.
SQL Developer does not have the same functionality as Toad or PL-SQL Developer but there again it’s only the first release.
Oracle provides an extension development kit with which (companies) can build their own extensions and of coarse Oracle will be developing extra extensions too (I wonder if these too will be free).
To sum it up, we have a development tool that:
- Works on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
- Does not need an Oracle client to connect to the database.
- Is able to view data objects, edit tables, run SQL statements, edit and debug PL\SQL and the list goes on….
- Has a development kit with which you are able to develop your own extensions.
- And it’s FREE
I think Toad has something to be worried about. SQL Developer has alot of potential.
Related posts:
JHeadStart ADF beta 
JHeadstart 10.1.3 Evaluation Copy available! – Everybody can now try out JHeadstart for ADF Faces (Pre)-compiling JSP for Tomcat with Jasper How to create a New Custom JSF Component that randomly displays select items in SelectOne… and SelectMany components Creating an ADF URL Service DataControl for binding a File or Servlet/JSP service and using it in an ADF Faces Web Application
Just tested the application to see if it connects to Oracle Lite and it does not. Problem for me seems to be that I cannot supply the oracle.lite.web.WTGJdbcDriver or oracle.lite.poljdbc.POLJDBCDriver to connect to the different Oracle Lite databases. It allows for custom JDBC but it doesn’t seem to allow you to set a classpath for that custom JDBC. This would be a nice to have. Other then that, the tool seems nice.
There are a couple of extensions already, even some time before Raptor itself went
into production, most interesting at http://fourthelephant.com
They are free afaik
What do you mean by “has just released”? It was released on the 13th, which is 18 days ago.
Indeed it’s not a TAOD replacement yet, but getting there with each new release.
Hmmmm, I wonder if this connects to Oracle Lite? It sounds like JDBC connections so I am thinking yes.
I am waiting for your first extention 🙂