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Re: newbie queston: why would anyone use Oracle?

From: William Robertson <william.robertson_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: 24 Sep 2005 08:05:12 -0700
Message-ID: <1127574312.811748.144810@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>


PJ6 wrote:
> "William Robertson" <william.robertson_at_bigfoot.com> wrote in message
> news:1127500387.720471.142950_at_g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > The idea that PL/SQL is for "introducing loops and other procedural
> > badness directly into my queries" or that it is "simple", or that you
> > shouldn't use various arbitrary features on the grounds that "they are
> > probably not simple deviations from the relational model" is absolutely
> > ridiculous and an insult to full-time PL/SQL developers. That includes
> > me by the way. It is as simple or otherwise as you choose to make it.
> > PL/SQL has nothing whatever to do with introducing loops into queries.
> > That is what XML is for. Jeez.
>
> You shouldn't take it personally, I already admited that I know very little
> about what we're discussing. Certainly it was not my intention to insult
> anybody.
>
> "PL/SQL has nothing whatever to do with introducing loops into queries."
>
> Then why did someone call PL/SQL "procedural"? To me "procedural" means GL3.
> GL3 structures and concepts, when possible, need to be avoided in a
> set-based language. At least that's what I was taught when I learned theory.
> Maybe I just misinterpreted someone else's comment.
>
> If not, I do acknowledge that there is still a need for GL3 features in
> relational languages. SQL Server 2005 (and probably Oracle already) finally
> provided a way of expressing recursive joins. But I hear the performance is
> poor, so in the land of MS, transitive closure will still require an IES.
>
> Paul

Regarding "why did someone call PL/SQL "procedural"? Because that's what the "P" stands for.

Or did you mean "Why did they call it that?" Because it's a procedural language designed to extend SQL.

Perhaps surprisingly, that does not mean introducing loops or anything else into queries. Received on Sat Sep 24 2005 - 10:05:12 CDT

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