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I'm just starting to learn Oracle SQL Developer as I develop PL/SQL code at my new job, and while it's an okay tool, it lacks a lot of the conveniences and features that you'd want when writing programs using a different IDE (such as IDEA).

Is there a different tool out there that really assists when building large packages/procedures/functions of PL/SQL code compared to Oracle's SQL developer 3? It would be great to get features like code completion, or to have the ability to CTRL-click a procedure name to quickly jump to a piece of code, and other nice features of this type?

egervari
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  • Nope. I am totally new to Oracle, so that is why I am asking ;) I've typically done applications based on mysql or postgres, and I honestly never had the need to write many stored procedures... or packages of them. This company has an entire codebase full of them. It's very different than what I'm used to... so having a tool to help will make a big difference. – egervari May 01 '12 at 03:06
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    I'd recommend Toad as well (Though it's a little pricy) – Daniel Haviv May 01 '12 at 03:50
  • @egervari yeah oracle takes some getting used to. I've had [my troubles](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3526798/best-way-tool-to-get-the-results-from-an-oracle-package-procedure) as [well](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3535405/execute-an-oracle-function-that-returns-a-reference-cursor-in-c-sharp) – Conrad Frix May 01 '12 at 04:55
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    I had some experience with plsql developer http://www.allroundautomations.com/plsqldev.html – A.B.Cade May 01 '12 at 05:56
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    To the two commenters who recommend Toad.... how about you write it up as an answer? I'd like to but haven't used it in 13 years so don't really have anything useful to say about it. – Mike Meyers May 01 '12 at 13:16
  • I have been using the free Oracle SQL Developer for something like 7 years intensively. Pro: free, installs in user space on windows (its just a java app), is stable, can do everything you need, debugging, exports, you name it. Only extra tool needed is SQL*Plus for some scripting. Con: indentation of source for oracle packages is messy, I recommend to edit source code in a decent external editor like Notepad++. Dont know if PL/SQL Dev or Toad have better editors. – Roland Sep 22 '20 at 23:49

3 Answers3

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PL/SQL Developer by AllroundAutomations its really good one. Provides all the basic features that other tools provides. And very good while debugging your stored procedures, functions and triggers. But it is also a licensed version. There are no. of add-ons are available which makes tool more powerful and You can customize your Plsql developer as shown in following links. here and here

Maddy
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I think Oracle SQL Developer is okay to develop PL/SQL code, It is a free software produced by Oracle org, it might lack of some specific features. but it satisfies most of common usages and functionality.

Toad is a more powerful tool with very widely used. but you need get a license.

C.c
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PL/SQL developer was interesting to try out a couple years ago, but I'm always finding myself doing a decent amount of DBA type work, and it wasn't very helpful with that. My DBA skills are not particularly strong, so that area, Toad and SQL Developer definitely come out ahead.

Overall, I prefer Toad (though it can be a resource hog, and getting everything working the way you want can be a pain). There's different versions (one specifically for developers) so one of those might suit you.

I recently started a new job, and decided to give SQL Developer a run (this is primarily because Toad is expensive enough that some places won't spend the money on it...like my last job...so it seemed like a good idea to pick a tool I knew I'd have everywhere). It certainly has its issues (it seems to be rather stubborn about breaking a connection if a query is running...but its possible thats a java thing), but it is free, lightweight, and gets the job done.

A note on Toad: At this point (possibly for the forseeable future) is strictly a 32-bit app. It'll run on a 64-bit windows box and connect to a 64-bit Oracle database, but the Oracle client must be 32-bit

moleboy
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