Part I. Programming in PL/SQL

1. Introduction to PL/SQL 
What Is PL/SQL? 
            The Origins of PL/SQL 
            So This Is PL/SQL 
            About PL/SQL Versions 
            Resources for PL/SQL Developers 
            Some Words of Advice 

2. Creating and Running PL/SQL Code 
SQL*Plus 
           Performing Essential PL/SQL Tasks 
           Oracle's PL/SQL-Based Developer Tools 
           Calling PL/SQL from Other Languages 
           And What Else? 

3. Language Fundamentals 
PL/SQL Block Structure 
          The PL/SQL Character Set 
          Identifiers 
          Literals 
          The Semicolon Delimiter 
          Comments 
          The PRAGMA Keyword 
          Labels 

Part II. PL/SQL Program Structure

4. Conditional and Sequential Control 
IF Statements 
         CASE Statements 
         The GOTO Statement 
         The NULL Statement 

5. Iterative Processing with Loops 
Loop Basics 
         The Simple Loop 
         The WHILE Loop 
         The Numeric FOR Loop 
         The Cursor FOR Loop 
         Loop Labels 
         Tips for Iterative Processing 

6. Exception Handlers 
How PL/SQL Deals with Errors 
         Defining Exceptions 
         Raising Exceptions 
         Handling Exceptions 

Part III. PL/SQL Program Data

7. Working with Program Data 
Naming Your Program Data 
        Overview of PL/SQL Datatypes 
        Declaring Program Data 
        Programmer-Defined Subtypes 
        Conversion Between Datatypes 

8. Strings 
The Impact of Character Sets 
       String Datatypes 
       String Issues 
       String Functions 
       NLS Functions 

9. Numbers 
Numeric Datatypes 
       Number Conversions 
       Numeric Functions 

10. Dates and Timestamps 
Date and Time Datatypes 
       Date and Timestamp Conversions 
       Date/Time Arithmetic 
       Date/Time Functions 

11. Records and Collections 
Records in PL/SQL 
       Collections in PL/SQL 
       Declaring Collection Types and Collections 
       Where Collections Can Be Used 
       Collection Built-Ins (Methods) 
       Working with Collections 
       Collection Pseudo-Functions 
       Maintaining Collections 
       Choosing a Collection Type 

12. Miscellaneous Datatypes 
The BOOLEAN Datatype 
       The RAW Datatype 
       The UROWID and ROWID Datatypes 
       The LOB Datatypes 
       Working with LOBs 
       Predefined Object Types 

Part IV. SQL in PL/SQL

13. DML and Transaction Management 
DML in PL/SQL 
        Bulk DML with the FORALL Statement 
        Transaction Management 
        Autonomous Transactions 

14. Data Retrieval 
Cursor Basics 
         Working with Implicit Cursors 
         Working with Explicit Cursors 
         BULK COLLECT 
         SELECT...FOR UPDATE 
         Cursor Variables 
         Cursor Expressions (Oracle9i) 

15. Dynamic SQL and Dynamic PL/SQL 
NDS Statements 
         Multirow Queries with Cursor Variables 
         Binding Variables 
         Working with Objects and Collections 
         Building Applications with NDS 
         NDS Utility Package 
         Comparing NDS and DBMS_SQL 

Part V. PL/SQL Application Construction

16. Procedures, Functions, and Parameters 
Modular Code 
         Procedures 
         Functions 
         Parameters 
         Local Modules 
         Module Overloading 
         Forward Declarations 
         Advanced Topics 
         Go Forth and Modularize! 

17. Packages 
Why Packages? 
         Rules for Building Packages 
         Rules for Calling Packaged Elements 
         Working with Package Data 
         When to Use Packages 
         Packages and Object Types 

18. Triggers 
         DML Triggers 
         DDL Triggers 
         Database Event Triggers 
         INSTEAD OF Triggers 
         AFTER SUSPEND Triggers 
         Maintaining Triggers 

19. Managing PL/SQL Applications 
Managing and Analyzing Code in the Database 
         Protecting Stored Code 
         Using Native Compilation 
         Testing PL/SQL Programs 
         Debugging PL/SQL Programs 
         Tuning PL/SQL Programs 
         Improving Application Performance 

Part VI. Advanced PL/SQL Topics

20. PL/SQL's Runtime Architecture 
Looking Under the Hood 
        Dependency Management 
        PL/SQL's Use of Memory in the Oracle Server 
        The Processing of Server-Side PL/SQL 
        PL/SQL Code on the Client 
        Execution Authority Models 
        Hardware for PL/SQL: Bigger = Better? 
        What You Need to Know 

21. Object-Oriented Aspects of PL/SQL 
Introduction to Oracle's Object Features 
       An Extended Example 
       Object Views 
       Maintaining Object Types and Object Views 
       Pontifications 

22. Calling Java from PL/SQL 
Oracle and Java 
       Getting Ready to Use Java in Oracle 
       A Simple Demonstration