Some Oracle professionals swear by SQL Plus, others just don’t even use it. There are a lot of tools out there for interacting with the Oracle database (and other databases as well) that serve as an alternative for SQL Plus; to name a few:
- SQL Plus Worksheet - installed with Oracle
- Toad for Oracle - from Quest Software
- SQL Navigator - also from Quest Software - Do not know why they have two similar products!
- DBArtisan - from Embarcadero Technologies
- Aqua Data Studio for Oracle - from AquaFold
Personally, I use both SQL Plus (command line version) and SQL Navigator. Why SQL Navigator? Because that’s the standard Oracle SQL and PL/SQL development tool the company I work for has adopted. SQL Navigator is not a bad tool, with the exception of a few bugs here and there. It does make developing and debugging PL/SQL programs faster. On the other hand, I use SQL Plus for testing and running SQL scripts locally on my machine. I do think that SQL Plus is the de-facto standard for writing and executing SQL scripts because it is available with every Oracle installation. If you have Oracle, you have SQL Plus. Just out of curiosity, Do you use a third party tool to help with your database and SQL development?
Note: Check out the poll (to your right). You can even add your own answer!
Possibly related:
- Your SQL Tool Part II
- 5 Links from Around the Web (2007-04-10)
- The New Firefox Reporter Tool
- links for 2007-01-05
- links for 2006-11-03
Tagged sql-developer, sql-navigator, sqlplus, toad, tool | Post a Comment
Hope everything is working out...
Hi,
August 19th, 2005, at 7:30 am #check out PL/SQL Developer as well - a good alternative for development (much lower price than toad):
http://www.allroundautomations.com/plsqldev.html
For DBA-Tasks i feel it not so well suited.
BR,
Martin
Did you re-format your blog again? It’s nice. I liked the most recent one, too.
I use SQL*Plus. I work on a lot of client’s systems, and that is the only common app in all of them. Plus you can use it with just a Unix connection, no need for Windows.
Even in my home development environment I either use SQL*Plus or the worksheet.
August 19th, 2005, at 7:44 am #*Did you re-format your blog again?*
Yes, I did. The old one, even though it was nice and cool, but it was heavy with JavaScript and background images, and as a result slower. The current theme is lighter and faster. Glad you like this one too Robert.
August 19th, 2005, at 7:57 am #I use SQL\*Plus a lot, but sometimes use iSQL\*Plus, and also JDeveloper.
August 19th, 2005, at 8:20 am #I use PL/SQL Developer. It is fantastic for development use.
August 19th, 2005, at 9:34 am #I am using SQL*Plus and PL/SQL Developer (even for some DBA tasks)
August 19th, 2005, at 10:57 am #EZ SQL was a slick little interface to Oracle. It’s no longer supported, though. The guy who wrote it was hired by Quest. Eventually, I’ll have to switch to TOAD.
August 19th, 2005, at 1:16 pm #SQL Tools is a robust FREE tool for Oracle databases available from http://www.sqltools.net/
I’m a DBA, not a developer, but it handles many of the things I need to do with ease. Another plus is that it runs stand-alone without installing (provided you have an oracle client of course).
The latest version on the website is listed as “beta”, but has been stable for me.
August 19th, 2005, at 1:34 pm #I’m mostly a TOAD person - SQL Navigator’s endless drill downs to get to object info is maddening. TOAD’s tab interface seems quicker to get to what I want. Command line SQL Plus for long running scripts and iSQLplus in a pinch. I’ve even used SQLPal on a keychain drive In places where installing an Oracle client is a problem (uses Java).
August 19th, 2005, at 3:44 pm #I’ve just revisited JDeveloper after a two year absence. It’s developing into a quite acceptable Toad/SqlPuss/etc alternative!
August 21st, 2005, at 4:22 pm #I keep hearing that SQL Navigator is being phased out. Any comments?
September 8th, 2005, at 11:10 am #Dallas,
I have not heard that SQL Navigator is being phased out. However, I have heard that Quest Software is more actively developing TOAD than SQL Nav.
There is a related thread on the oradev mailing list, read it [here](http://www.freelists.org/archives/oradev/08-2005/msg00008.html). If you have not done so, I also suggest you subscribe to the oradev mailing list, you can do so [here](http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oradev).
September 8th, 2005, at 5:12 pm #[…] As a follow-up to my previous post about the different SQL development tools, here is the result of the quick poll I had on this site. […]
October 12th, 2005, at 7:17 am #