We've built much more than a SQL prompt

If you are using an Oracle Database, we want you to have a great experience. Whether you're a DBA, developer, business analyst, or even a lowly product manager, you should be able to do your job. Adequacy is never the measuring stick. We want your interactions with our data platforms to be enjoyable to the point where it might even be confused with fun.

The tools we've been building at Oracle for the past two decades have enabled our customers to build and maintain some of the amazing systems that you have probably been enjoying as a consumer. Tools have a simple mission: make the task at hand simpler, easier, faster.

One of the only constants over this time period has been the nature, if not ferocity, of change. The Internet, and then Cloud, and then AI revolutions have delivered many amazing things to improve our lives. But, then also it means we as vendors must pivot to deliver what the market DEMANDS before the opportunity passes us by.

This isn't another AI post

If it were, I could talk about the integration we're doing with our tools to make Generative AI a part of your daily developer experience.

But instead of listening to me, I invite you to watch our own EVP Juan Loaiza and SVP Kris Rice share Oracle's philosophy and plans for delivering Generative AppDev with Oracle Database 23ai.

Desktop tools, but for free

In 2005 we brought Oracle SQL Developer to the Oracle Database community. It quickly became the #1 tool for working with Oracle, enjoying a user base of more than 7,000,000.

Over the years we extended the developer focus to also include designers, with SQL Developer Data Modeler, and database administrators with the integrated DBA features right inside the same interface used for writing queries.

Desktop GUIs are cool, but "real devs" use the command-line

I don't believe this, but I have heard it more than a few times in my career. What I do believe is that we need to provide a good interface for our databases, regardless if you like primarily using the mouse or the keyboard.

So about a decade ago, we did it again, and built a 'SQL Developer' for the CMD and Bash enthusiasts.

• Defined, reusable connections with secure, encrypted passwords
• Code completion
• SQL history/recall
• Automatic output display (fit to screen, CSV, JSON, INSERTs, and more)
• simple commands for powerful outcomes (DDL, DATAPUMP, DATAGUARD, LOAD, LIQUIBASE)
• Low runtime requirements (no Oracle Home/Client, just unzip and go)
• Oracle Cloud integration

SQLcl can be found in any Database $HOME, pre-installed in Oracle Cloud, or in popular package managers like Homebrew, or our Container Registry.

But our database is in The Cloud!

At Oracle you don't have to compromise usability for elasticity. As soon as you spin up a new instance, you can immediately start working the database directly in your browser, with nothing to install or configure.

The next frontier is in VS Code

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 26 million developers call Visual Studio Code 'home,' or their primary Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

And whether you're building applications, websites, or your go-to script to save the day, VS Code probably has an extension to make that easier. Add to that the realization that most solutions require some sort of data management, then it only made perfect sense for Oracle to bring SQL Developer also to VS Code.

Building an Oracle Database extension for VS Code is much more than an exercise in duplicating desktop features we pioneered 10 or 15 years ago. We wanted to bring to bear ALL of the productivity and code quality features we had built for the browser, command line, and desktop - all in one solution.

The rich HTML/js presentation in the browser is delivered in VS Code, while the power of the command line is available with a simple click and VS Code's excellent terminal integration.

We've delivered 5 updates of our SQL Developer Extension for VS Code so far in 2024, and might have one left before we leave for our annual Winter Break!

Already available with a simple 'Install' from the VS Code marketplace, our extension supports:

• familiar connection dialogs
• browsing the contents of your database and tables - with integrated filtering and search
• an editor supporting both SQL & PLSQL languages (powered by our LSP implementation) including a configurable code formatter
• code snippets
• SQL History and recall
• Text, Visual, and Advanced Execution Plan displays
• PL/SQL debugging
• ability to execute queries to script output or to visual data grids, and the ability to export obth to popular formats like JSON, CSV, XML, INSERT statements, and more
• Oracle Database 23ai features such as VECTORs and JSON Duality Views

Some end of year stocking stuffers?

We have no shortage of new features in development, but the next update will include some very popular features from SQL Developer including our canned Reports. Dozens of frequently asked questions will be on call with the answers from your database, including, just how much trouble is Jeff causing in the database, today?

Where do we go next?

While this post wasn't about AI, it's impossible to ignore. We're working diligently to bring AI to your database tools. Wouldn't it be cool to describe the application you want to build, and have it built for you as Juan was dreaming about in the aforementioned keynote? That's not so far away.

And if you're a Go or Python developer, wouldn't it be nice to drag and drop code from your app to and from an SQL extension to get a table generated or a piece of SQL ready to be executed? One of our big goals is to not only build an amazing Oracle extension, but to build one that provides value OUTSIDE of our extension to the rest of your development projects.

And while I'm always keeping an eye on what other database tools have to offer in case there's something there of interest for the Oracle community, it's very rewarding to see that technology, features, or even workflows we've pioneered have been adopted by others! Just goes to show you why SQL has been a powerhouse for the past 47 years, and why it will most likely continue for the next foreseeable part of our lives.