Re: C -v- PL/SQL

From: Phil Herring <revdoc_at_uow.edu.au>
Date: 4 Jun 1998 01:13:07 GMT
Message-ID: <6l4sb3$e50$1@wyrm.its.uow.edu.au>

Use them both, where appropriate.

PL/SQL performs better under some circumstances. For example, in a client/server environment, code that fetches a lot of data, processes it, and writes a lot of data back to the server will be faster in server-side PL/SQL, especially if the network connection being used is a bit slow.

PL/SQL also permits *very* simple code re-use -- once you've written a stored procedure, you can call it from your front end (be it C, Forms, Power Builder, or whatever) whenever you need it, and changes to that procedure are reflected immediately in all production applications; in other words, you don't have to recompile or redistribute code. That can have a big impact on your long-term costs.

And you really *do* want to use triggers. They're too useful to avoid.

PL/SQL is also a simple language and doesn't take too much to learn. A good programmer should be able to pick it up in a week.

OTOH, PL/SQL is weak when it comes to things like file I/O, and if you have to do a lot of non-database calculations, PL/SQL will be slower than C. However, in general, that will be rare (IME).

Received on Wed Jun 03 1998 - 20:13:07 CDT