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From the Editor
The Tools Are Out There
By Tom Haunert
Trying new Oracle tools never gets old.
New jobs bring new challenges, and for people working with technology, new challenges often involve new tools. Before I joined Oracle, for example, I worked at a company that made PC hardware and software. For my first day of work there, my employer asked me to bring both a regular and a Phillips screwdriver. When I got to work, the first thing I was required to do was assemble and configure the PC I would use to do my job.
At that job, I tested and used a variety of new computer hardware. I upgraded hardware, including monitors and video cards, frequently, and I installed and upgraded many graphical user interface (GUI) applications. Not all of the hardware and software installations were part of the job, however; some I didn't necessarily need, but the tools were new or recommended—or both—and I wanted to try them.
A few years later, on my first day of work at Oracle, I sat in front of a VT220 terminal. I couldn't believe that I had left my PC, color monitor, and GUI for an amber-colored, character-based dumb terminal.
But I welcomed the challenge. I learned new tools on the VT220—UNIX commands, the vi text editor, SQL*Plus, Oracle Forms (Release 3.0), and a character-mode e-mail application.
The Zen of New Tools
Within a couple years after coming to Oracle, I was back in the GUI world, on both PCs and UNIX-flavored workstations, but I continued to use vi, SQL*Plus, and other portable tools I had learned on the terminal. At times I wished I still had that old VT220; for some things it was faster than newer tools.
Through years of working on many different platforms, I've tried a variety of new and recommended Oracle tools, text editors, e-mail clients, browsers, news readers, and more.
Here's my approach to working with new tools:
- When I hear about a new tool that sounds interesting and could save time, I try it.
- When people I respect with tool requirements similar to mine recommend a tool to me, I try it.
- If I try a tool, like it, and see that it can save not just me but lots of other people time, I recommend it.
- When I know I am about to be required to use a new tool, I try it—before the "go-live" date.
- I keep—and occasionally use—the best old tools.
- When it's absolutely necessary, I build my own tools.
New Tools
In the last issue of Oracle Magazine, I wrote about using Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) and Oracle Application Express. Since then, I've spent a lot of time working with Oracle SQL Developer, a new graphical tool for database development. I ran through the steps for using the tool in Jonathan Gennick's "Oracle SQL Developer Soars" article. Jonathan timed the steps he describes in that article, and I was able to complete the steps as quickly as he documented.
In keeping with my stated approach to new tools, here's my take: After trying Oracle SQL Developer, I firmly believe it can save me considerable time, compared to using SQL*Plus. I plan to use Oracle SQL Developer frequently, and I plan to keep SQL*Plus and use it occasionally. If you currently use SQL*Plus, I highly recommend Oracle SQL Developer.
The "I Dev" cover story features many other tools, including Oracle Database XE, Oracle Application Express, Oracle SQL Developer, Oracle JDeveloper, Oracle Developer Tools for .NET, and Oracle Data Provider for .NET. I have tried many, but not all, of the tools mentioned in this article. I've heard great things about all of them, however, from inside and outside of Oracle, so I plan to try them all. If these trials go well, expect to see more recommendations.
New and Old
In the last few days I have installed and used the current releases of Oracle Database XE and Oracle JDeveloper, and I highly recommend both tools.
If I need to use some of the best old tools, I'm ready. I don't use the UNIX command line or vi much right now, but I remember how to get online help, and I have a 10-year-old quick reference card of UNIX and vi commands.
And I keep those screwdrivers in a desk drawer, just in case.
Tom Haunert, Editor in Chief
tom.haunert@oracle.com
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