Nearly a quarter-million PL/SQL programmers--novices and experienced developers alike--have found the first and second editions of Oracle PL/SQL Programming to be indispensable references to this powerful language. Packed with examples and recommendations, this book has helped everyone, from Oracle Forms developers to database administrators, make the most of PL/SQL. This new edition is a comprehensive update of the original book, covering all versions of PL/SQL through Oracle9i Release 2. It adds much-requested new chapters on how to create and run PL/SQL programs, call Java methods from within PL/SQL, and define and use database triggers. An extensive new chapter--designed especially for experienced PL/SQL developers--describes PL/SQL's runtime architecture and how to use knowledge of Oracle internals to get the best performance from PL/SQL.The book contains information about the latest Oracle9i PL/SQL features, The book is divided into six Even if you've been a PL/SQL developer for years, you'll find an enormous amount of new and revised information in this third edition and on its companion web site. If you're new to PL/SQL, you'll find Oracle PL/SQL Programming an invaluable companion on the road to mastery.
Excellent book for PL/SQL programmers. Each section has abundant examples which cover all the scenarios. Steven feuerstein is a world renowned expert in PL/SQL language and there is no dearth of tips and tools of using the language from the master himself. This book is definitely Steven's greatest. Along with explaining the features available in the language, it also includes advice on best practices on testing,debugging and improving the code quality. Almost all the essential tools available for a developer in PL/SQL has been clearly explained and demonstrated with examples.
Steven also created a website PL/SQL challenge which is a great platform to practice your coding skills. So, once you complete reading this book my suggestion would be to complete the PL/SQL practice tests in this site : https://plsqlchallenge.oracle.com/
I used this to study for the Oracle PL/SQL OCP exam (1Z0-146). Having just passed it, I feel I must recommend it for this purpose. It covers all the exam topics, and goes into further detail on several topics, which I found to be useful for filling out the gaps. It also covers topics from the previous exam (1Z0-144) which I mostly skipped over, having completed that exam earlier. It lacks any control questions after each chapter, which might have been useful.
While somewhat dry in places (unavoidable given the subject material) I found it to be thorough. A good supplement to Oracle's student guide.
A better question is how much I understood. Enough is the answer. About 30% is actual. I'll come back to this when I need it. I'm praying that SQL becomes all drag and drop which I suppose it moving in this direction anyways, so it's a matter of time.
I'd done PL/SQL before but some time ago, so got this book as a reference for reviewing and understanding PL/SQL code I was working with on a new software system.