Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices

Name

DEV-01: Set standards and guidelines before writing any code.

Synopsis

These standards and guidelines would, if I had my way, include many or all of the best practices described in this book. Of course, you need to make your own decisions about what is most important and practical in your own particular environment.

Key areas of development for which you should proactively set standards are:

• Selection of development tools : You should no longer be relying on SQL*Plus to compile, execute, and test code; on a basic editor like Notepad to write the code; or on EXPLAIN PLAN to analyze application performance. Software companies offer a multitude of tools (with a wide range of functionality and price) that will help dramatically improve your development environment. Decide on the tools to be used by all members of the development group.

• How SQL is written in PL/SQL code : The SQL in your application can be the Achilles’ heel of your code base. If you aren’t careful about how you place SQL statements in your PL/SQL code, you’ll end up with applications that are difficult to optimize, debug, and manage over time.

• An exception handling architecture : Users have a hard time understanding how to use an application correctly, and developers have an even harder time debugging and fixing an application if errors are handled inconsistently (or not at all). The best way to implement application-wide, consistent error handling is to use a standardized package according to specific guidelines. ...