Re: Oracle and Java. Does Oracle know something some of us don't?

Rauf Sarwar wrote:

> I hate to start another thread on this but I could not resist.
>
> There are some interesting posts in another thread "Java to die in
> 2003" about pros and cons of Oracle's integration with Java. One of
> the interesting thing mentioned in some of the posts is that Oracle is
> trying to push PL/SQL away and replace it with Java. Even I myself
> opposed the idea with a bold statement that "It was never Oracle's
> intention to replace PL/SQL with Java and Java is only there as a
> support to PL/SQL in whatever it cannot handle".
>
> Just for curiosity to see where Oracle stands on this issue, I thumbed
> through from current to some of the past issues of Oracle magazine.
> Although I did not realize this before but to my surprise, almost 80%
> to 90% of "Oracle Technology related" articles published by Oracle
> magazine within last few months are about Java, J2EE, EJB and all the
> other fancy Java related acronyms.
>
> In most current issue of Oracle magazine (Jan/Feb 2003), there is an
> article by Kuassi Mensah, "Simplify with Java stored procedure". Under
> "PL/SQL or Java" subheading, he/she writes "When you think of Oracle
> stored procedures, you probably think of PL/SQL. Oracle, however, has
> provided Java support in the database since Oracle 8i, to offer an
> open and portable alternative to PL/SQL for stored procedures.....".
> Entire article after this is about all the wonderfull things Java can
> do in Oracle... which to some part I agree.
>
> The thing that caught my attention above was "...open and portable
> alternative to PL/SQL for stored procedures". Is Oracle really trying
> to slowly sneak Java in to replace PL/SQL? I guess only Oracle knows
> the answer to that question. This is only one article... but the fact
> that Oracle magazine published it carries some weight.
>
> I hope I am not wrong in my assumption that "It was never Oracle's
> intention to replace PL/SQL with Java" but it looks like that Oracle
> knows something that some of us don't!!!
>
> Any thoughts.
>
> /Rauf Sarwar

The intention of Oracle Magazine is marketing. It is there to sell the product line. Since Oracle needs little push to sell the RDBMS and PL/SQL it concentrates on making people aware of other tools and other ways to accomplish goals.

The death of PL/SQL would be the death of Oracle as a corporation. Larry may be many things but suicidal and stupid are not on the list. Java and all of the other tools will only threaten PL/SQL when they perform as well, allow rapid development, and are accepted as the primary development tool by the vast majority of Oracle's customers. And I expect to be retired long before that happens.

Daniel Morgan Received on Sat Jan 04 2003 - 11:38:59 CST