Summary

In this chapter, you learned

• That a relational database is a collection of related information that has been organized into structures known as tables . Each table contains rows that are further organized into columns . These tables are stored in the database in structures known as schemas , which are areas where database users may store their objects (such as tables and procedures).

• That Structured Query Language ( SQL ) is the standard language designed to access relational databases.

• That SQL*Plus allows you to enter SQL statements using the keyboard or to supply a file that contains SQL statements and run those statements.

• How to run a script in SQL*Plus that creates the example store schema.

• How to execute simple SQL SELECT , INSERT , UPDATE , and DELETE statements.

• That PL/SQL is Oracle s procedural language that allows you to add programming constructs around SQL. PL/SQL is primarily used for adding procedures and functions to a database to implement business logic.

In the next chapter, you ll learn more about retrieving information from database tables.