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

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 Received on Sat Jan 04 2003 - 11:30:41 CST