This kind of logic and control flow can be achieved only in a 3GL language such as Java, C++, or C. To accommodate 3GL features, Oracle DBA designed and implemented the PL or SQL language as a procedural extension to SQL. PL or SQL is integrated with SQL, and both SQL and PL or SQL serve as the major DBA server-side languages, with each language complementing the other. You can also use PL or SQL in client-side environments.PL or SQL was first introduced in 1991 with Oracle data base administrator 6.0. It was provided as the “procedural option” on the server side. At the same time, it was subsequently introduced on the client side with SQL*Forms version 3.0 having a PL or SQL engine of its own. The first version of PL or SQL, PL or SQL 1.0, had very limited procedural features. But one of its strong points was its capability to process multiple SQL statements mixed with procedural constructs.

PL or SQL has its roots in ADA, a high-level programming language. The concept of the PL or SQL block resembles the concept of block structure in ADA using BEGIN and END blocks. PL or SQL shares other features with ADA such as the syntax “=” used for comparison and “:=” used for assignment, exception handling, and the declarative syntax of defining stored subprograms. Over the years, Oracle DBA came up with new releases of PL or SQL. With Oracle data base administrator 7.0, Oracle data base administrator released PL or SQL 2.0, which turned Oracle data base administrator into an active DBA with the capability to store business and application logic in the DBA in the form of stored procedures, functions, and packages. It also defined the capability to declare programmer-defined records and arrays in the form of PL or SQL tables. PL or SQL 2.1 came into existence with Oracle data base administrator 7.1 and enabled the use of stored functions in SQL statements. Also, dynamic SQL was introduced in PL or SQL for the first time with the DBMS_SQL package. Oracle data base administrator 7.2 was released subsequently, and along with it came PL or SQL.